WORK AND PENSIONS

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department paid to Deloitte for consultancy services in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Mark Hoban: The amount paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to Deloitte for consultancy services in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 was:
	(a) 2010: £9,197,088
	(b) 2011: £2,209,580
	(c) 2012: £318,726

Design Council: Pensions

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements for the administration of the Design Council Pensions Scheme have been put in place and monitored by his Department.

Steve Webb: Responsibility for the administration of pension schemes lies with either the trustee of trust-based schemes or the provider of contract-based schemes.
	The Department is responsible for the legislation and regulatory framework governing the operation of workplace pension schemes. This regulatory framework exists to make sure schemes are run properly and are compliant with legislation.
	The responsible regulatory authorities are:
	The Pensions Regulator, which has powers to regulate the way that company pension schemes are run, and to investigate pension fraud and badly run schemes; and
	The Financial Services Authority, which regulates the financial services industry in the UK and can take action against firms if they fail to meet the required standards.
	The framework also sets in place bodies that can assist individuals. These are:
	The Pensions Advisory Service, which is an independent non-profit organisation that provides free information, advice and guidance about pensions;
	The pensions ombudsman, which investigates and decides complaints and disputes about the way that pension schemes are run; and
	The Pension Tracing Service, which helps individuals track down lost or frozen pension schemes.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to propose changes to a student's entitlement to employment and support allowance if they have to leave their course because they are diagnosed with (a) cancer and (b) another serious illness.

Mark Hoban: There are circumstances when certain vulnerable students can access benefits. These include students who are long-term sick and in receipt of disability living allowance (DLA), those who are disabled and some lone parents (subject to the age of their youngest child). Students are eligible for income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) if they are entitled to DLA.
	There are no plans to change the eligibility criteria for students to claim ESA.

Employment and Support Allowance

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how often on average people with (a) Parkinson's and (b) all progressive conditions are reassessed for their eligibility for employment and support allowance.

Mark Hoban: For all new employment and support allowance (ESA) claims with Parkinson's disease recorded as the main health condition where there was an initial work capability assessment (WCA) and a first repeat WCA, the average duration between the decision-maker's decision at the initial WCA and the first repeat WCA was 472 days.
	The data includes all claims with repeat decisions taken on them up to May 2012 (the latest data available).
	Data on the health conditions recorded is based on the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases, 2010 (ICD10):
	http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/
	Due to the large number of health conditions described by ICD10 it would be possible to identify those considered “progressive” only at excessive cost to the Department.

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Mark Hoban: Government Procurement Cards (GPC) are held by staff across DWP to make low value purchases. Currently there are 545 GPCs in issue to DWP staff. Special advisers do not hold GPCs.

Housing Benefit

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the potential saving to the Exchequer following the introduction of house size criteria as a condition for receipt of housing benefit.

Steve Webb: Estimates of the savings to the Exchequer of the size criteria measure are available in the impact assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf

Housing Benefit: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the amount of housing benefit payments paid in each local authority area in Scotland has been in the last five years.

Mark Hoban: Housing benefit expenditure from 2005-06 to 2011-12 by local authority is on the table entitled "Tables showing benefit expenditure by country, region and local authority from 2000/01 to 2011/12" which can be accessed at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure
	Note:
	The breakdown of HB and CTB expenditure is based on a combination of statistical data and local authority subsidy returns.

Housing Benefit: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people in Scotland who will be affected by the introduction of house size criteria as a condition for receipt of housing benefit.

Steve Webb: Estimates of numbers affected by the size criteria measure at national and regional level are available in the impact assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf

Housing Benefit: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid in housing benefit in Scotland in the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the amount of such payments in the next two financial years.

Mark Hoban: Outturn and forecasts of housing benefit expenditure by country is on the table entitled "Medium term forecast for all DWP benefits" in the housing benefit tab, which can be accessed at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure
	Note:
	The breakdown of HB and CTB expenditure is based on a combination of statistical data and local authority subsidy returns.

Part-time Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of staff in his Department work part-time.

Mark Hoban: As at 30 November 2012 (the latest data available) 39% of employees in the Department for Work and Pensions were working part-time.

Pay

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will assess the effects of wage increases on consumer spending power and the economy.

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. The OBR published a forecast for pre-tax labour income (that includes wages), and also household disposable income on 5 December 2012 in their Economic and fiscal outlook.
	The OBR forecast that real household disposable income will grow in each year from 2013 to 2017. Pre-tax labour income is forecast to make the largest contribution to real household disposable income growth in each of those years.
	Consumption by households accounts for around two-thirds of expenditure in the UK, so movements in consumption have an important impact on gross domestic product and the economy.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Mark Hoban: Information on the amount spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12 is as follows, and, for reasons of comparison, the amount for financial year 2010-11 is also given.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Financial year Newspaper/magazine spend Periodical spend 
			 2011-12 16,632.51 39,955.85 
			 2010-11 27,905.75 80,071.96

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 307W, on subscriptions, how much his Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010.

Mark Hoban: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			 Date range Newspaper/magazine spend Periodical spend 
			 April 2010 to date 55,711.27 142,781.00

Redundancy

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many civil service posts have been made redundant by his Department in each year since 1999; and what the cost of redundancies has been in each such year.

Mark Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions was created in 2001, therefore I am not able to provide the information requested for years prior to this, and the information requested is not held in Departmental records for the years 2001 to 2004.
	In the following table I have reproduced the information requested, since 2004, which includes compensation paid through the use of voluntary exit schemes, voluntary redundancy and compulsory redundancy.
	In all cases, prior to a civil service role ending, employees are given the opportunity for redeployment before a paid exit is considered.
	
		
			  Exits Cost (£ million) 
			 2005-06 2,805 173.00 
			 2006-07 2,054 62.00 
		
	
	
		
			 2007-08 3,620 166.00 
			 2008-09 148 3.54 
			 2009-10 42 4.50 
			 2010-11 1,564 71.10 
			 2011-12(1) 1,113 43.27 
			 (1) Please note that the costs of exits in 2011-12 are currently being reconciled and may change slightly.

Rented Housing: Greater London

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much each London borough spent on (a) housing benefit, (b) rent rebates to local authority tenants and (c) rent allowances to tenants of other landlords in each year between 2005-06 and 2011-12.

Mark Hoban: Housing benefit, rent rebates and rent allowances expenditure from 2005-06 to 2011-12 by local authority is on the table entitled “Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit expenditure by Local Authority from 1996-97 to 2011-12” which can be accessed at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure
	Notes:
	1. Published rent rebate expenditure figures consist of Housing Revenue Account Rent Rebate and Other Rent Rebate. For England and Wales, Other Rent Rebate is made up primarily of Non-HRA Temporary Accommodation cases.
	2. The breakdown of HB and CTB expenditure is based on a combination of statistical data and local authority subsidy returns.

Social Security Benefits

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to tackle benefit tourism.

Mark Hoban: We have a legal duty to provide support to people who come to this country, in line with our national and international obligations. However we have strict rules to ensure that people who come here cannot take inappropriate advantage of our benefit system. We believe that migrant workers who have contributed to the economy and paid their dues should be protected, but free movement should not mean unrestricted access to benefits for economically inactive migrants.
	Contributory benefits, such as contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance, are payable to anyone who satisfies the contribution and other conditions for the benefit, regardless of nationality.
	However, all migrants must satisfy the Habitual Residence Test before they are eligible to claim means tested benefits. The test has two elements: a legal right to reside and an objective assessment of factual habitual residence. Economically inactive EEA nationals and their family members cannot claim income-related benefits. People coming from outside the European Economic Area are subject to immigration control and they generally have an immigration status that allows no recourse to public funds and so would not be eligible for income-related benefits.
	My Department hosted a ministerial conference in London last year at which a number of other EU member states expressed their concerns about economically inactive migrants abusing free movement rights to get access to benefits. We are now working with member states to agree a set of principles for sustainable social security coordination in the future.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of the workforce in (a) Scotland and (b) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency will be affected by the proposed one per cent benefits uprating.

Steve Webb: The Department estimates that of working-age households around 500,000 in-work households in Scotland will be affected by the Welfare Benefits Uprating Bill.
	This represents around 30% of all in-work households in Scotland. Of these households around 200,000 are receiving child benefit but not tax credits.
	There are around 300,000 working-age households in Scotland where no one is in work who will be affected. This represents around 62% of all out-of-work working-age households in Scotland.
	It is not possible to provide an answer for part (b) as there is not sufficient sample size to break the data down to a constituency level.
	Notes:
	1. This estimate has been calculated using the Department's Policy Simulation Model and is modelled on a consistent basis with the estimates published in the impact assessment of 8 January 2013, which covered the impacts of the uprating changes in 2014-15 and 2015-16 covered by the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill.
	2. Child benefit will be increased by 1% for two years from April 2014, when the three year freeze announced at the June 2010 Budget comes to an end.
	3. An in-work household is defined as one where at least one member is working one or more hours.
	4. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 1% or 100,000.

Temporary Employment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many temporary staff have been recruited in his Department in each month from July to December 2012.

Mark Hoban: DWP has not recruited any temporary staff in this period.

Unemployment: Tower Hamlets

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has assessed the number of people (a) in each ward and (b) of each ethnicity who have been unemployed in Tower Hamlets for (i) six, (ii) 12 and (iii) 24 months.

Mark Hoban: Information on ILO unemployment is not available at this level of detail. Corresponding information on claimant unemployment is in the tables.
	
		
			 Claimant unemployment in Tower Hamlets by duration of claim and ward, November 2012 
			 Ward Claiming for six months or more Claiming for 12 months or more Claiming for 24 months or more 
			 Bethnal Green North 325 230 95 
			 Bethnal Green South 320 225 95 
			 Blackwall and Cubitt Town 300 195 80 
			 Bow East 285 210 95 
			 Bow West 215 155 75 
			 Bromley-by-Bow 410 290 135 
			 East India and Lansbury 440 340 160 
			 Limehouse 320 220 95 
			 Mile End and Globe Town 250 180 75 
			 Mile End East 340 240 110 
			 Millwall 340 235 100 
			 St Dunstan's and Stepney Green 335 220 85 
			 St Katharine's and Wapping 140 100 50 
			 Shadwell 250 155 70 
			 Spitalfields and Banglatown 260 175 90 
			 Weavers 300 210 90 
			 Whitechapel 245 170 65 
			 Tower Hamlets 5,095 3,570 1,565 
		
	
	
		
			 Claimant unemployment in Tower Hamlets by duration of claim and ethnicity, October 2012 
			 Ethnicity Claiming for six months or more Claiming for 12 months or more Claiming for 24 months or more 
			 White 1,460 1,035 500 
			 All ethnic minority groups 3,320 2,345 925 
			 Mixed 155 115 55 
			 Asian or Asian British 2,230 1,550 555 
			 Black or Black British 760 565 265 
			 Chinese or Other Ethnic Group 180 125 55 
			 Prefer not to say 290 180 75 
			 Unknown 75 55 25 
			 All ethnic groups 5,150 3,620 1,530 
			 Notes: 1. The total estimates in each table are not the same because they relate to different time periods, reflecting the latest data available in each case. 2. Estimates cover all claimants over the specified duration. For example, the total claiming for six months or more includes all those claiming for 12 months or more, which in turn includes all those claiming for 24 months or more. 3. Estimates are rounded to the nearest five claimants, so may not sum to totals. Source: Claimant count, Nomis

Unemployment: Young People

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to promote the use of TheFutureYou.org.uk and other online support networks to address youth unemployment in the UK.

Mark Hoban: While we would not take specific action to promote the use of individual external websites, our strategy for supporting young people into work is increasingly helped by the use of online tools and digital media.
	Jobcentre Plus advisers are now using a variety of methods to keep in touch with claimants, including e-mail and text messaging. Young claimants can use the Department's online job matching service—Universal Jobmatch which enables them to build a CV which then matches them to jobs. This service speeds up the job search process and it is also free for employers to advertise their jobs.
	Jobcentre Plus also uses social media to promote jobs to young people. It promotes specific jobs and information about the Youth Contract via Twitter and is currently testing the use of Facebook to do the same in 10 local areas.

Unemployment: Young People

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of incentive payments under the Youth Contract has been paid out to employers to date.

Mark Hoban: The Youth Contract, including wage incentives, went live on April 2012 and in most cases wage incentives are paid after a young person has been in work continuously for 26 weeks. Following the collection and quality assurance of this data, I expect the first set of Official Statistics on the wage incentive to be available in the early part of 2013. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.

Work Capability Assessment

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many work capability assessments were successfully appealed in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, (b) Tower Hamlets, (c) London and (d) the UK as a proportion of the total number of assessments carried out in 2011-12.

Mark Hoban: Data on outcomes of assessments for employment and support allowance (ESA) is not available for the Bethnal Green and Bow parliamentary constituency. The following table shows the number and proportion of successful appeals (initial decision overturned) heard on fit for work decisions at the initial work capability
	assessment. The table covers employment and support allowance claims starting between January 2011 and August 2011 (the latest information available).
	
		
			 Fit for work decisions overturned on appeal as a proportion of all work capability assessments in Tower Hamlets, London and the UK 
			 Area Initial decision overturned at Tribunal Service All initial work capability assessments Overturns as a proportion of all initial assessments (%) 
			 Tower Hamlets 100 1,200 6 
			 London 1,700 35,400 5 
			 UK 14,000 266,900 5 
			 Notes: 1. The statistics are likely to alter over time due to outstanding appeals for ESA claims made in this period. Appeals against incapacity reassessment outcomes are not included. 2. The table includes appeals on initial fit for work decisions only. Appeals made against work related activity group decisions or following repeat assessments or incapacity benefit reassessment decisions have not been included here as they are not yet available. 3. The data presented above come from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, functional assessment data from Atos Healthcare and appeals data from the Tribunals Service. 4. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Work Programme

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prime contractors will not be receiving in full the outcome fee from June under the terms of their Work programme contract; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The Work programme funding model is linked to the achievement of individual job outcomes rather than the allocation of a single fee for outcomes achieved. Providers can only claim a job outcome payment after a participant has been in a job for three or six months, they can then claim sustainment payments every four weeks if a participant stays in work longer.
	The fee structure for the Work programme is available on the DWP website via this link:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/the-work-programme.pdf

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices: Catering

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract with the provider for the Asian Culinary Excellence initiative.

Matthew Hancock: holding answer 14 January 2013
	A copy of the relevant investment funding agreement between the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and People 1st will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Export Credit Guarantees

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what date he expects funds to be made available to firms from the monies announced in the autumn statement 2012 to provide loans for small firms to access growing export markets overseas through UK Export Finance; and what milestones, timescales, deadlines and targets he has set in relation to that process.

Michael Fallon: As announced in the autumn statement, 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-82, funds will be available from 1 April 2013 for a three-year period under the Direct Lending Scheme to be administered by UK Export Finance.
	UK Export Finance is working with the British Bankers' Association to put in place arrangements to enable exporters to access the scheme with a view to it being operational as soon as possible after 1 April.
	The scheme is intended to fund export contracts involving export loans with a value of up to £50 million and is therefore for smaller and medium-sized transactions rather than being particularly targeted at SMEs. The uptake of funding under the scheme will depend upon UK exporters winning export contracts for which their buyers require loan financing for periods of two years or longer where financing from commercial sources is unavailable.

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Jo Swinson: The number of core BIS staff holding a Government Procurement Card is 186. The special advisers do not hold Government Procurement Cards.

ICT: Graduates

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many computer science students graduated from UK universities in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010 and (d) 2011.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on qualifiers from UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Information on the number of postgraduate and undergraduate students qualifying from Computer Science subjects at UK HEIs for the academic years 2008/09 to 2011/12 is provided in the table.
	Information for the 2012/13 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2014.
	
		
			 Qualifiers(1) from Computer Science(2) by level of study, UK Higher Education Institutions, academic years 2008/09 to 2011/12 
			 Level of study 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 Postgraduate 8,015 9,835 11,390 10,455 
			 Undergraduate 19,155 19,285 19,735 20,060 
			 Total 27,170 29,120 31,125 30,520 
			 (1) Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. (2) Subject information is shown as Full Person Equivalents (FPEs) in the table. FPEs are derived by splitting student instances between the different subjects that make up their course aim. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record

Imports: Israel

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that products produced by Israeli settlers in Occupied Palestinian Territories are correctly labelled as being from that source.

Jo Swinson: There is no mandatory requirement for goods produced in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to be labelled as such. We have no plans to introduce such a requirement.
	Where specific EU legislation in the food sectors requires the country of origin to be indicated the Government believes that, for example, “Produce of The West Bank” is a lawful description of the origin of such goods. The west bank is a recognised geographical area within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
	So far as food and drink of Occupied Palestinian Territories origin imported into the UK is concerned, DEFRA has issued voluntary technical advice for the benefit of those importers and retailers who believe that their customers wish to distinguish between products of Israeli settlement provenance and those which originate from Palestinian growers.
	More generally the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 ban traders in all sectors from using misleading commercial practices which are likely to distort a transactional decision of the average consumer. This includes statements about the geographical or commercial origin of products.
	As with other elements of goods, the Government encourages consumers who are interested in a particular property of goods, including their origin, to ask the seller. If they are not happy with the reply, then they can shop elsewhere. If they suspect that the reply is not truthful, then they can take the matter up with their local authority Trading Standards Officers who enforce the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Local Enterprise Partnerships: Liverpool

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many projects have been funded by the Liverpool City Region local enterprise partnership to date; and how much has been paid to each project in funding.

Michael Fallon: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold this information.
	The Liverpool City Region local enterprise partnership is responsible for its own day to day decisions, and for what funding it provides and to whom. More information can be found on the LEP's website:
	http://www.liverpoollep.org/

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Jo Swinson: The financial data held within BIS does not separately identify the amount spent on newspapers and periodicals and such costs are included among all publication costs.
	In the financial year April 2011 to March 2012 the amount of expenditure against all publications is £294,500.00. This figure includes a range of publications, including newspapers and periodicals.
	The Department does publish details of all individual spend transactions as part of its obligations under transparency. These details are openly available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-innovation-skills/series/bis-spending-totals

Procurement

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 6 November 2012, Official Report, column 596W, on procurement, what proportion of suppliers to his Department and its agencies are signed up to the Prompt Payment Code.

Michael Fallon: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills paid 95.5% of its suppliers within five working days during the last quarter of 2012 (October to December) and actively encourages and promotes the Prompt Payment Code to its suppliers. In addition, I recently wrote to all FTSE 350 companies asking them to become signatories of the code.
	Information on the number of suppliers who are signatories to the code is not held centrally within the Department or its Executive agencies and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how often his Department produces a staff magazine.

Jo Swinson: BIS does not produce a staff magazine; we use our intranet as the key internal channel for disseminating information. This conforms with the digital by default policy, which applies to all new Government publications.

Temporary Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff are currently employed on a temporary basis by his Department and its agencies; and how many of those staff are agency workers.

Jo Swinson: There are currently 241 staff employed on temporary basis in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (including UK Trade and Investment—UKTI). Of these, 132 are agency staff. These figures exclude consultants.
	Temporary workers are employed to cover short-term projects or provide specialist expertise not generally available in the Department. In UKTI, temporary workers are mostly people with deep expertise not easily found within the civil service, e.g. country, sector or marketing expertise.
	I have asked chief executives of the executive agencies to respond directly to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, dated 16 January 2013
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to reply to you in response to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills “how many staff are currently employed on a temporary basis by his Department and its agencies; and how many of those staff are agency workers”?
	Ordnance Survey currently employs 80 staff on a temporary basis. Of these 80 staff, 78 are engaged through an agency and 2 are Civil Servants on Fixed Term Appointments. Agency staff are used to cover short term workload fluctuations, which arise either through customer requirements or seasonal or system introductions that affect levels of data processing. They may also be used to backfill extended absence cover, such as maternity leave or secondments to projects for permanent employees.
	Ordnance Survey also uses contingency workers to provide skills and expertise in specific areas, via third-party service contracts. An additional 96 such workers are currently being used by Ordnance Survey.
	I hope this information is of use.
	Letter from Kim Thorneywork, dated 16 January 2013
	Thank you for your question in asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff are currently employed on a temporary basis by his Department and its agencies; and how many of those staff are agency workers.
	Please be advised that the Skills Funding Agency currently employs 92 contingent workers on a temporary basis and 8 inward secondees. All 92 contingent workers are sourced and invoiced through an agency.
	Letter from Tim Moss, dated 16 January 2013
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 14 January 2013, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UIN 137817.
	Companies House currently has five members of staff employed on a temporary basis; all are agency workers.
	Letter from John Hirst, dated 16 January 2013
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 14 January 2013, UIN 137817 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	There are currently 85 people employed on a temporary basis at the Met Office, including 59 agency workers.
	I hope this helps.
	Letter from Peter Mason, dated 15 January 2013
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO) to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 14 January 2013, asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills about the number of temporary staff currently employed by his Department and its agencies, and how many of them are agency workers.
	There are three individuals currently working in the Agency on a temporary basis. All three individuals are agency workers supplied under the Government Procurement Service National Framework Agreement for the Supply of Non-medical, Non-clinical Temporary and Fixed Term Staff.
	Letter from Richard Judge, dated 16 January 2013
	The Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question how many staff are currently employed on a temporary basis by his Department and its agencies; and how many of those staff are agency workers.
	The Insolvency Service currently employs 140 individuals on a temporary basis, of which one is a secondee, 27 are specialist contractors and 112 are agency workers.
	Letter from David Parker, dated 15 January 2013
	Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff are currently employed on a temporary basis by his Department and its agencies; and how many of those staff are agency workers. (137817)
	The UK Space Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and has one member of staff on a temporary contract along with two agency workers from Adecco.
	Letter from Malcolm Dawson, dated 15 January 2013
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to your Parliamentary Question 137817 tabled on 14 January 2013 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff are currently employed on a temporary basis by his Department and its agencies; and how many of those staff are agency workers.
	I can confirm that Land Registry currently has two members of staff on loan from other Government Departments and two agency staff, making a total of four.
	I hope you find this information useful.
	Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 16 January 2013
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 14 January 2013, to the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is an executive agency of BIS. On 1 January 2013 the IPO had 65 temporary workers, 37 of whom were agency workers.

HEALTH

Cancer

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Ministers from his Department have met representatives of (a) Varian Medical Systems, (b) Elekta and (c) Accuray between May 2012 and January 2013.

Daniel Poulter: The previous Minister of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns), visited Varian Medical Systems' and Elekta Ltd's UK sites in Crawley on 12 July 2012.

Cancer: Drugs

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have received Tamoxifen as a chemo-preventative measure through the Cancer Drugs Fund in each of the last three years.

Norman Lamb: Latest information from strategic health authorities (SHAs) indicates that no patients have received tamoxifen through the Cancer Drugs Fund (from April 2011 to the end of November 2012) or the interim cancer drugs funding arrangements in 2010-11 (from October 2010 to the end of February 2011). A breakdown of patient numbers by SHA by drug for March 2011 is not available.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent steps he has taken to ensure that every child and adult with myalgic encephalomyelitis receive suitable and appropriate treatment for their condition;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the 2007 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and the Medical Research Council sponsored trial into CFS/ME conducted in February 2011.

Norman Lamb: We have not assessed the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) clinical guidelines on chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). NICE regularly reviews its guidance to ensure that it remains up to date and takes into account any new evidence that may influence its recommendations, and when new evidence comes to light, NICE can consider revising its published recommendations.
	We have made no assessment of the Medical Research Council sponsored PACE trial: A Randomised Controlled Trial of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), graded exercise therapy (GET), adaptive pacing and specialist medical care for the chronic fatigue syndrome. However, we understand that the trial demonstrated that CBT and GET were moderately effective out-patient treatments when added to specialist medical care, as compared with adaptive pacing therapy or specialist medical care alone, and that all four treatments tested were safe. The findings of the trial have been published and NICE has processes to ensure that as new evidence becomes available, its advice can be reviewed.
	Clinicians are responsible, within their area of competence, for diagnosing medical conditions, advising patients on the treatment options available and providing care that takes into account their patients' preferences. In doing so, they are expected to take account of evidence-based guidance from NICE and authoritative advice from other relevant bodies.
	Long-term conditions is one of the Secretary of State for Health's priority areas and this was reflected in the prominence with which it featured in the mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board. Following the publication of the mandate we are working with the NHS Commissioning Board to agree the best way to improve care for people with long-term conditions including those with CFS/ME.

Drugs: Babies

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many infants were readmitted to hospital with neo-natal withdrawal symptoms attributable to maternal use of illicit or therapeutic drugs following being discharged from hospital in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: Data on the number of infants readmitted to hospital with neo-natal withdrawal symptoms attributable to maternal use of illicit or therapeutic drugs following being discharged from hospital are not centrally collected.

Drugs: Licensing

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration his Department has given to allowing the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency or any other similar public body to act as an applicant for a licence for new indications of existing drugs outside their patent protection periods.

Norman Lamb: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for approval of new medicines including amendments to approved indications. The MHRA is not constituted to conduct or commission clinical trials and other studies required to evaluate the safety, quality and efficacy of medicines. As it is responsible for review and approval of the results of these studies, a role as the applicant for licences for new or existing drugs would conflict with its impartiality as regulator.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is responsible for providing independent, evidence-based guidance for the national health service on clinical and cost effectiveness. There would be a clear conflict of interest for NICE to have a role as an applicant for a marketing authorisation for new indications of existing drugs, and we have no plans to allow it to do so.

Drugs: Misuse

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department has allocated for drug addiction services in (a) the London borough of Enfield, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: Central funding for adult drug treatment services has been provided to primary care trusts through the adult pooled treatment budget (PTB).
	Adult PTB allocations to the London borough of Enfield, London and England in each of the last five years are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Enfield London National 
			 2008-09 2,246,734 86,284,297 373,300,000 
			 2009-10 2,053,159 83,470,533 381,300,000 
			 2010-11 1,792,279 76,933,554 381,300,000 
			 2011-12 1,825,461 74,969,952 381,300,000 
			 2012-13 2,041,437 74,830,263 381,300,000

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Daniel Poulter: There are currently 262 Government Procurement Cards in use in the Department. None of these have been assigned to a special adviser.

Health Services

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the NHS Commissioning Board will take to finalise the service specifications for (a) specialised neuromuscular services and (b) other specialised services following the conclusion of the consultation process.

Norman Lamb: It is the Government's intention that from April 2013 the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) will directly commission specialised services. These services have been prescribed in a set of regulations. Each service will be supported by a service specification developed by specialised clinicians, expert patients and public health representatives. The NHS CB has also developed a manual that provides detailed information on the scope of services to be commissioned.
	A range of national commissioning “products”, including a draft service specification for neurosciences: neurology D4c, which includes neuromuscular services, have been developed and are currently subject to a period of consultation, which closes on 25 January 2013. A report on the consultation is due to be published in early March.
	Responses to the consultation will be carefully analysed before the NHS CB formally adopts the final service specifications for inclusion in contracts with providers from 2013-14.

Health Services: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health care assistants there were at each acute hospital trust in London in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The information is not available in the format requested. The numbers of health care assistants employed by each acute hospital trust in London as at 30 September 2010 and 30 September 2011 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 NHS hospital and community health services: Healthcare assistants in acute trusts in the London Strategic Health Authority area by organisation as at 30 September each specified year 
			 Full-time equivalent 
			  2010 2011 
			 London Strategic Health Authority area 6,827 7,215 
			 Of which:   
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 595 589 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 14 328 
			 Barts and the London NHS Trust 4 26 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 163 161 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 2 2 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 154 198 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 203 203 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Foundation Trust 120 113 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 272 364 
			 Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 251 261 
		
	
	
		
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 140 136 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 385 430 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 432 439 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 191 188 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 185 174 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 31 7 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 2 2 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 272 286 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust 84 90 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 253 275 
			 Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 31 69 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 86 102 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 562 541 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 347 331 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 349 400 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 141 117 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 6 6 
			 Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 137 182 
			 Notes: 1. Health care assistants are defined as those staff coded H1 in the Non-Medical Workforce Census Occupation Code manual. HCAs are those staff who are trained, or under training, in the various competencies related to their job. 2. Full-time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. 3. London SHA area totals include primary care trusts (PCTs), ambulance trusts and mental health trusts. 4. As a consequence of TCS (Transforming Community Services) the former provider arm of some PCTs may have transferred into local acute trusts. This can be seen in the large increase in staff numbers at Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust for example. 5. Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Daniel Poulter: The Department spent £131,101 on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12 (April 2011 to March 2012). This shows a 3.8% reduction on the 2010-11 figure of £136,223, and 47.4% reduction on the 2009-10 figure of £249,152.
	The Department's Knowledge Centre is responsible for central provision of library services—including newspapers, periodicals and trade publications. The figures above do not include expenditure on items for retention by individual divisions, responsibility for which was decentralised in April 2010. Details on this expenditure are not available.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 263W, on press subscriptions, how much his Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The amount spent on subscriptions since May 2010 is £262,015. This figure includes journal subscriptions for the 2013 calendar year, but not 2010 as these were paid prior to May 2010. This shows a 66.3% reduction on the figures for the previous 33 month period (August 2007 to April 2010) of £776,420.
	The Department's Knowledge Centre is responsible for central provision of library services—including newspapers, periodicals and trade publications. The figures above do not include expenditure on items for retention by individual divisions, responsibility for which was decentralised in April 2010. Details on this expenditure are not available.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how often his Department produces a staff magazine.

Daniel Poulter: The Department used to publish a monthly (10 issues per annum) printed staff magazine called ‘Link’. However the contract came to a natural end and a decision was taken (based on efficiency savings and our green commitment) to withdraw the magazine. The last issue was published March 2011. Since then we have developed a 'pilot' interactive online staff magazine (published on the intranet), full of features and articles capturing the work of staff across the Department and its priorities. The first issue was published in December 2012. If the magazine evaluates well with staff, the intention is to produce it bi-monthly, six issues per year.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Air Pollution

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what additional steps his Department takes to monitor emissions from appliances manufactured by companies in receipt of Government grants; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The steps that DEFRA requires for appliance exemption under the Clean Air Act 1993 are the same for all solid fuel appliances, regardless of whether the respective manufacturer is in receipt of any Government funds. Under this Act, local authorities are responsible for the designation and supervision of smoke control areas. DEFRA manages a type-approval exemption process for the approval of appliances for use in smoke control areas. This process assesses appliances' smoke emissions based on criteria published on DEFRA's smoke control website at:
	http://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/
	An appliance using an authorised fuel in a smoke control area does not require exemption. Details of authorised fuels are also on DEFRA's smoke control website.

Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of staff in his Department have received training in equality and diversity and the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 in each of the last three years.

Richard Benyon: The information requested is not recorded centrally and can be gathered only at disproportionate cost.

Food: Waste Disposal

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it his policy to introduce a ban on food waste in landfill; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: Our long-term vision is that no food waste should go to landfill. We have committed to reviewing the case for restrictions on sending particular materials to landfill over the course of this Parliament, including looking specifically at wood, textiles and biodegradable waste. Before bringing forward proposals on restricting any materials, the Government needs to be content that restrictions are the best value way of moving material up the waste hierarchy and that the costs to businesses and the public sector are affordable.

Food: Waste Disposal

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress he has made on the consultation on limiting biodegradable waste landfill, as set out in the Waste review; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: We have committed to reviewing the case for restrictions on sending particular materials to landfill over the course of this Parliament, including looking specifically at wood, textiles and biodegradable waste. We have just completed a Call for Evidence on wood waste, fulfilling the first part of this commitment. This is now being analysed, with a view to making a summary of responses publicly available.

Fracking

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on the potential effect of fracking rig installations in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Richard Benyon: No discussions have taken place recently regarding the potential effect of fracking rig installations in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Applications for permits for exploration or exploitation activities in such areas would be subject to the existing planning and environmental controls.

Meat: Exports

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the European Commission on the timetable for the review of the moratorium of exports of desinewed meat; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which has policy responsibility in this area, has worked closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on behalf of the United Kingdom Government in explaining to the European Commission (EC) the full impact of their decision that desinewed meat (DSM) can no longer be produced from ruminant bones and that DSM made from poultry or pork bones should be labelled as mechanically separated meat. DSM from poultry or pork can still be produced and exported but must be correctly labelled.
	The FSA has also made it clear to the Commission that the UK expects working group discussions on this matter to reopen without delay after the publication of the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the production of non-ruminant mechanically separated meat, which is expected at the end of March 2013. The FSA continues to pursue this matter with the EC, making the case for the UK interpretation, and has submitted scientific evidence to EFSA to inform the development of the scientific opinion.

Olympic Games 2012

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which events at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were attended by each Minister in his Department using tickets or passes for which they did not pay personally; and what the cost was of attending each such event for members of the public who used comparable seats or had comparable access.

Richard Benyon: The Government pledged to publish these details following the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will do so shortly.

Reservoirs: Greater London

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with Thames Water regarding a revised plan for a new reservoir.

Richard Benyon: There have been no recent discussions with Thames Water regarding a revised plan for a new reservoir.
	Thames Water will consult on its new draft water resources management plan in the spring of 2013. This will set out how it proposes to manage water resources to ensure a sustainable water supply and demand balance over a period of at least 25 years from April 2015.

Ritual Slaughter

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the slaughter of farm animals for Qurbani/Udhia purposes under the provisions of the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations 2012. [R]

David Heath: The slaughter of farm animals for Qurbani/Udhia purposes is currently regulated under the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 (WASK). It will in future be regulated by Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing and stricter national rules introduced by individual member states. The Regulations for enforcing this law and introducing national rules in England have been consulted on but have not yet been laid before Parliament for approval.
	WASK permits slaughter by a religious method, including Muslim slaughter for Qurbani/Udhia, to be carried out in a licensed slaughterhouse which is under official veterinary supervision. It must be carried out by a licensed Muslim slaughterman by the Muslim method for the food of Muslims.
	It is illegal to slaughter animals or birds without stunning, including slaughter for Qurbani/Udhia in any other place, even for private domestic consumption.

Social Enterprises

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on plans to introduce social enterprise zones; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: Neither I nor my ministerial colleagues have had discussions with the Minister for the Cabinet Office regarding social enterprise zones.

Waste: Exports

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of residual solid waste have been exported in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 7 January 2013
	The export of untreated municipal waste for disposal is prohibited.
	For exports of refuse-derived fuel for energy recovery, the following data is available for the United Kingdom:
	
		
			  Tonnes 
			 2008 0 
			 2009 1,330 
			 2010 17,269 
			 2011 272,200 
		
	
	Data for 2012 has not yet been finalised, but based on provisional estimates it is expected to show a substantial increase in exports of refuse-derived fuel from 2011.
	Over the past two years UK competent authorities have received an increasing number of applications from waste companies wanting to export wastes for energy recovery, including refuse-derived fuel. The move to divert municipal waste from landfill and increases in landfill tax mean that it can now be more economic for companies to export this material than to send it to landfill.
	As with other types of waste, refuse derived fuel is a commodity that can legitimately be exported, as long as this is in accordance with the requirements of the EU Waste Shipments Regulation.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Housing

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse was of accommodation for asylum seekers in the last three years for which figures are available.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency has paid the following amounts for accommodating asylum seekers in last the three years:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2009-10 397.5 
			 2010-11 287.5 
			 2011-12 200.3 
		
	
	These costs include expenditure on supporting failed asylum seekers as well as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs) and former UASCs where local authorities retain some responsibilities beyond the age of 18. The figures include some non-accommodation costs which are included in accommodation costs charged to the agency. It is not possible to disaggregate such expenditure without incurring disproportionate costs.
	Other Government Departments and local authorities also make a contribution to accommodation costs for some categories of asylum seekers. The UK Border Agency does not hold sufficient information to make a reliable estimate of these costs.

Crime: Disability

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many disability hate crimes have been recorded in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: Hate crime data have only been collected by the Home Office since 2011-12. In 2011-12, there were 1,744 disability related hate crimes in England and Wales.
	More detailed information on hate crime can be found in the most recent statistical publication on hate crime at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/crime-research/hate-crimes-1112/
	The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have collected data on the number of disability hate crimes recorded by police since 2009 and this information can be found at:
	http://www.report-it.org.uk/hate_crime_data1
	These figures are not directly comparable to the figures collected by the Home Office. However, they show the number of disability-related hate crimes recorded in England and Wales (excluding Northern Ireland) to be 1,211 in 2009, 1,512 in 2010 and 1,877 in 2011. The data for 2011 includes hate crimes recorded by the British Transport police.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions have been held between the UK Border Agency and London Metropolitan University on monitoring procedures for international students; and when she will publish the outcome of any such discussions.

Mark Harper: holding answer 14 January 2013
	Officials from the UK Border Agency met with London Metropolitan University on 26 November 2012 to discuss monitoring procedures for international students. There have been several discussions since 26 November on a wider range of issues.
	The UK Border Agency does not publish the outcome of discussions it has with sponsors about their sponsorship obligations.

Ibrahim Magag

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Ibrahim Magag was given (a) the right to stay in the UK and (b) British citizenship.

James Brokenshire: As it set out in the statement to the House by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), on 8 January 2013, Official Report, column 161, Magag is a Somali born British national. The Government does not routinely comment on individual cases and having considered the circumstances of this case it would not be appropriate for me to comment further.

Members: Correspondence

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 11 April 2012 from the hon. Member for North East Somerset on behalf of a constituent James Caldwell; and if she will investigate the reasons for the time taken to address the case.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 15 January 2013
	The reply to the letter has been issued today. Mr Caldwell will receive a full explanation for the delay and an apology.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the National Wildlife Crime Unit; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: Every six months the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) produces a tactical assessment of progress against each of its priority work areas. The tactical assessment is considered jointly by the Home Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and other members of the UK Wildlife Crime Tasking and Co-ordinating Group.

Police: Dogs

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the cost of kennelling dangerous or stray dogs to the (a) Metropolitan police, (b) Greater Manchester police and (c) other police forces.

Damian Green: While the Government provides core police funding, spending decisions are made locally by the chief constables and police and crime commissioners. Data on each police and crime commissioner's expenditure, including the cost of kennelling dangerous or stray dogs, are therefore not collected centrally.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 38W, on press subscriptions, how much her Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010.

James Brokenshire: For the period from June 2010 to September 2012, the Home Department spent £107,902 on subscriptions.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how often her Department produces a staff magazine.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office staff magazine is produced bi-monthly with six issues in each calendar year.
	The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) staff magazine is produced bi-monthly with six issues a year and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) staff magazine is produced monthly.
	The UK Border Agency and Border Force each have a monthly online only staff magazine (e-zine).

Riot (Damages) Act 1886

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2012, Official Report, column 502W, on the Riot Damages Act 1886, whether the planned independent review into the Riot Damages Act will involve public consultation.

Damian Green: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 17 December 2012, Official Report, column 502W. The outcomes of the independent review will be used to shape any future public consultation on possible changes to the legislation.

UK Border Agency

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the performance of the UK Border Agency's Performance and Compliance Unit.

Mark Harper: The Performance and Compliance Unit was created in spring 2012 to play a crucial role in the UK Border Agency's Transformation programme.
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has asked the independent chief inspector to report on its establishment, and make recommendations on whether any operational or process changes are required to strengthen its set up.
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department has also asked that the independent chief inspector conduct a further review once the Performance and Compliance unit is fully operational.
	The independent chief inspector's report will be presented to Parliament later this year.

UK Border Agency

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the performance of the UK Border Agency in processing asylum cases.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency publishes annual asylum performance against 15 key performance measures. The statistics cover the financial year 2011-12, except for the Work in Progress (WiP) figure which is calculated from June 2011 to June 2012.
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/further-key-data/
	The statistics show a system which is stabilising with the majority of measures showing increases in performance, or remaining the same. Including;
	Asylum cases in WiP (down from 37,903 in financial year (FY) 2010-11, to 37,381 in FY 2011-12)
	Asylum cases concluded within 12 months (up from 56% in FY 2010-11, to 63% in FY 2011-12)
	Asylum cases concluded within 36 months (up from 63% in FY 2010-11, to 70% in FY 2011-12)
	Asylum cases removed within 12 months (up from 19% in FY 2010-11, to 22% in FY 2011-12)
	Asylum decision quality (up from 88% in FY 2010-11, to 89% in FY 2011-12)
	Asylum Unit Cost (down from £15,415 in FY 2010-11, to £15,215 in FY 2011-12)

PRIME MINISTER

Tax Evasion

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Prime Minister what measures to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance he expects to bring forward for discussion during the UK's presidency of the G8.

David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I made on 9 January 2013, Official Report, column 20WS and to the letter I placed in both Libraries of the House.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Apprentices

Robert Halfon: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many apprentices are employed by the House of Commons Service; and what estimate he has made of the number of apprentices employed by the House's major suppliers.

John Thurso: Since the answer I gave to the hon. Member's written question on this subject in September, there have been two developments. The Catering Service is establishing apprenticeships as part of the business improvement programme that it is currently implementing. The Parliamentary Estates Directorate is also considering options for a new apprenticeship scheme.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times (a) Hellfire precision guided missiles and (b) laser guided bombs employed by the UK Reaper remotely piloted air system have fallen outside their given circular error probability since operations commenced in Afghanistan.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 17 December 2012
	The Reaper Remotely Piloted Air System (RPAS) currently employs two types of munitions, the GBU-12 laser guided bomb and the Hellfire AGM114 precision guided missile. Both are highly accurate munitions, and every effort is made to ensure the risk of civilian casualties is minimised. I am withholding further information as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Afghanistan

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of those attacked and either killed or wounded in a Green on Blue attack in Afghanistan had not been issued with a side arm to date.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 15 January 2013
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), on 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 869. All deployed personnel are issued with a personal weapon. The mix of weapons carried on a daily basis, is decided by commanders on the ground reflecting the tasks to be undertaken. I am withholding any further information as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.

Afghanistan

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) male and (b) female armed forces personnel have been deployed in each deployment to Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: This information is not held in the format requested. However, the gender split of all those military personnel who are recorded as entering Afghanistan has been recorded centrally since April 2007. The figures detailed cover all those military personnel who were recorded entering Afghanistan for a period of more than one day during a particular calendar year. These figures are not a breakdown of the headcount of personnel actually located in Afghanistan at any one time.
	The total number of military personnel recorded as entering Afghanistan, rounded to the nearest 10 by gender for the period 1 April 2007 until 1 December 2012 is as follows:
	
		
			 Calendar year Female military personnel Male military personnel 
			 2007 (April to December only) 1,490 25,950 
			 2008 1,800 31,650 
			 2009 2,430 38,780 
			 2010 2,590 41,300 
			 2011 2,740 42,150 
			 2012 (January to 1 December only) 2,250 33,230

Armed Forces: Cadets

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what proportion of Army Cadet Force detachments are connected to (a) independent schools and (b) state schools;
	(2)  how much funding was provided by his Department to support the Army Cadet Force detachments in (a) independent and (b) state schools in the last year for which figures are available.

Mark Francois: There are 181 Army Cadet Force (ACF) detachments connected to schools and colleges in the UK. Current records indicate that 178 are connected to state schools and colleges and three are connected to Independent Schools, equating to around 11% of the total ACFs in the UK.
	Information relating to the amount of funding made available is not held in the format requested.

Aviation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many air miles were accumulated by each Minister in his Department in 2012; how such air miles were used; and whether such air miles were donated to charity.

Mark Francois: Ministerial use of air miles is conducted in accordance with the guidance set out in the Ministerial Code. Any air miles accrued by the Department in respect of Ministers' and officials' travel are used by the Department towards the cost of official travel.

Data Protection

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions each Minister in his Department carried classified documents on public transport in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Mark Francois: This information is not held. Ministers handle official information in accordance with Government guidance.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sum is payable to the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft consortium in order to access air-to-air refuelling rights for aircraft that chose to use buddy tanks.

Philip Dunne: Under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft contract, Air Tanker will increasingly meet all of the RAF's air-to-air refuelling needs.
	The RAF has no requirement to undertake air-to-air refuelling using the “buddy-buddy” concept and hence no liability would arise.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information his Department has received on (a) delays and (b) the risk of delays to the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme since May 2010.

Philip Dunne: The Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft project, known in service as the Voyager, is on schedule to achieve its In Service Date (ISD) of May 2014.
	Risks are routinely monitored and mitigated. Risks to the introduction of air-to-air refuelling and to the delivery of specific aircraft are being successfully addressed and the ISD remains on track.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what meetings (a) he, (b) Ministers and (c) officials of his Department have had on (i) delays and (ii) risks of delays to the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme since May 2010.

Philip Dunne: The Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft project, known in service as the Voyager, is on schedule to achieve its in-service-date of May 2014. The aircraft was granted a military release to service in the Air Transport role in April 2012 and while some technical issues on the air-to-air refuelling system have needed further work, tests have proved successful and the aircraft is expected to start air-to-air refuelling later this year. The original schedule for the Voyager project included margin to allow for resolution of such issues and hence the in-service-date of May 2014 is not currently at risk.
	The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and Ministers have been personally engaged in ensuring satisfactory progress on this key programme, which is governed at the official level through a quarterly Joint Board with Industry, informed by subordinate forums to manage the various elements of the programme on a more frequent basis.

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card. [Official Report, 13 February 2013, Vol. 558 c. 7MC.]

Mark Francois: Currently, 11,614 Government Procurement Cards (GPC) are in issue with the Ministry of Defence. This is a reduction of over 25% compared to the figure of 16,009 GPC cards in issue in 2009. Not all cards are issued individually to staff on a one to one basis. The special advisers have not been issued with a GPC.

Guided Weapons

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to his meeting with his French counterpart in November 2012, when he expects to meet his French counterpart to discuss the Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon Heavy; and what his estimate is of the likely delay before any new guided missile can be deployed.

Philip Dunne: The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), communicates regularly with the French Defence Minister on a range of issues. The In-Service date of the Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon (Heavy) will be confirmed later this year.

Major Projects Review Board

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current status is of the Major Projects Review Board.

Philip Dunne: The Major Projects Review Board was established in June 2011 to ensure that the most significant Ministry of Defence projects keep to the cost and time parameters agreed by the Department's Investment Approvals Committee and HM Treasury at the major investment decision point. The board continues to meet on a regular basis.

Mali

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when contingency planning began for potential deployment in support of French forces in Mali in (a) his Department and (b) Permanent Joint Headquarters.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence, including Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood, began contingency planning for potential UK deployments in support of French forces in Mali on 11 January 2012.
	Ministerial authority for detailed planning and subsequent execution was granted on 12 January.

Military Aircraft

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the out-of-service dates for the VC10 and TriStar aircraft;
	(2)  what meetings (a) he, (b) Ministers and (c) officials of his Department have had on the bringing forward the out-of-service dates for the VC10 and TriStar aircraft since May 2010.

Philip Dunne: The out-of-service dates for the VC10 and TriStar fleets were reviewed and adjusted during the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review and subsequent planning round and annual budget cycle processes. The planned out-of-service date for the VC10 is September 2013 and the out-of-service date for the TriStars is March 2014.
	The Ministry of Defence formally assessed the operational capability requirement in its annual capability audits conducted in 2011 and 2012, and it is routinely monitored by the capability planning group responsible for the VC10, TriStar and Voyager aircraft fleets. These adjustments were made as part of routine planning activity to align them to our evolving requirements and the build-up of replacement capability. Ministers received advice on these issues from officials throughout this period.

Property

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the value of the sites currently earmarked by his Department for sale in each region of the UK.

Mark Francois: Details of any pre-sale valuations obtained cannot be released as to do so could prejudice commercial interests.

Submarines and Warships

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the current value of (a) HMS Tyne, (b) HMS Severn and (c) HMS Mersey;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the current value of each (a) Vanguard and (b) Trafalgar class submarine;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the current value of HMS Astute.

Philip Dunne: The current values of the Royal Navy vessels are shown in the following tables. The values quoted reflect the net book value (NBV) of the asset, which is calculated by deducting depreciation from the original capital cost, together with the cost of any major upgrades, of the asset.
	Depreciation is a measure of the decrease in value of an asset over time. The NBV of each vessel reflects the effects of depreciation based on the age of the vessel, its time left in service, and any value added as a result of major refits and overhauls.
	
		
			 River class offshore patrol vessels 
			 Name NBV (£ million) 
			 HMS Tyne 12 
			 HMS Severn 13 
			 HMS Mersey 15 
		
	
	
		
			 Vanguard class submarines 
			 Name NBV (£ million) 
			 HMS Vanguard 492 
			 HMS Victorious 713 
			 HMS Vigilant 895 
			 HMS Vengeance 534 
		
	
	The total procurement cost of the Vanguard class included £278 million of costs which are shared across the whole class. These costs have not been attributed to the individual vessels and are not included in the NBVs quoted in the table.
	
		
			 Trafalgar class submarines 
			 Name NBV (£ million) 
			 HMS Tireless 10 
			 HMS Torbay 124 
			 HMS Trenchant 215 
			 HMS Talent 315 
			 HMS Triumph 396 
		
	
	The NBV for HMS Tireless is significantly lower than the other in-service vessels because the boat has limited remaining service.
	The total procurement cost of the Trafalgar class included £687 million of costs which are shared across the whole class. These costs have not been attributed to the individual vessels and are not included in the NBVs quoted in the table.
	
		
			 Astute class submarines 
			 Name NBV (£ million) 
			 HMS Astute 1,170 
		
	
	The total procurement cost of the Astute class currently includes £949 million of costs which will be attributed to the planned class of seven submarines. These costs have not been attributed to HMS Astute.

Trident Submarines

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect on the UK's continuous at sea deterrence of the recent damage to HMS Vigilant.

Philip Dunne: It is our policy not to discuss submarine operations.

USA

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) value and (b) start and finish date was of contracts for foreign military sales procured by the British defence staff in the US in each of the last five years.

Philip Dunne: Foreign Military Sales (FMS) is the process for foreign governments and international organisations to purchase military articles and services from the US Government. A summary of the value of all FMS cases submitted to US Department of Defence for the years 2007-11 and 2012 to 30 November is as follows:
	
		
			 All figures in US$ million 
			  Case amendments Total cost New cases Total cost Requirement modifications Total cost Total cost 
			 2007 64 158.5 35 182.5 20 -6.9 334.1 
			 2008 110 403.2 29 546.6 17 -0.3 949.6 
			 2009 77 116.1 22 76.7 10 -9.2 183.6 
		
	
	
		
			 2010 79 141.6 30 1,048.1 7 -0.2 1,189.5 
			 2011 86 246.2 29 210.9 5 0.0 487.1 
			 2012 (to November) 74 238.4 22 128.2 4 -0.1 366.5 
			 Grand total 490 1,334.0 167 2,193.1 63 -16.7 3,510.4 
		
	
	This table also separates out the three main areas of case activity, which are:
	New cases—new cases submitted for the first time.
	Case amendments—amendments to existing cases which are required by UK.
	Requirement modifications—a US unilateral change to an existing case.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consideration was given to including the measures on the creative industries in the pledges made by the Government in the coalition mid-term review.

Edward Vaizey: The creative industries are a key part of the UK economy, generating a total of £36.3 billion gross value added, 2.89% of the economy, according to the latest figures. The mid-term review document sets out the Government's focus to maintain a business environment that can support all parts of the economy and further improve on the creation of over 1 million private sector jobs. The document also sets out that we have encouraged innovative industries through the tax system by creating a patent box and by legislating for creative sector tax relief.

Aviation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many air miles were accumulated by each Minister in her Department in 2012; how such air miles were used; and whether such air miles were donated to charity.

Hugh Robertson: Any air miles accrued by the Department in respect of Ministers' and officials' travel are used by the Department towards the cost of official travel.

Gambling

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Gambling Commission and (b) betting shop operators on the effectiveness of self-exclusion policies in assisting customers who gamble more than they want to.

Hugh Robertson: I have met with the Gambling Commission and betting shop operators on a number of occasions to discuss a range of matters relating to the gambling industry.

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in her Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Hugh Robertson: As of December 2012 there were 40 Government Procurement Card holders in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. No special advisers have use of a Government Procurement Card at DCMS.

Internet

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2013, Official Report, column 213W, on internet, if she will estimate the number of (a) pensioners and (b) people on low incomes that do not currently use the internet in (i) Glasgow North West, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to estimate the number of (a) pensioners and (b) people on low incomes that do not currently use the internet in (i) Glasgow North West, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK.
	Estimates of Internet use by adults aged 16 years and over are published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics and are available on our website. These estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and have United Kingdom (UK) coverage. The latest available estimate, from 2012 Q3, of the number of pensioners who have never used the Internet in Glasgow is 68,000. The estimate for Scotland is 486,000 while the estimate for the UK is 5,630,000. Estimates at parliamentary constituency level are not available.
	In the same period, the number people on low incomes (defined as receiving gross weekly pay of less than £200) that do not currently use the Internet in Scotland is 37,000. The estimate for the UK is 358,000. Estimates at parliamentary constituency and city level are not available.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport spent £11,348.21 on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Social Enterprises

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on plans to introduce social enterprise zones; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: holding answer 15 January 2013
	Ministers within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet colleagues from other Departments to discuss a range of matters.

Taxis

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on taxis in 2011-12.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport spent £24,324.62 on taxis in the year 2011-12 (principal use was the Olympics).

Tour de France

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what ministerial meetings have taken place to provide support for the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2014.

Hugh Robertson: I had a meeting with my hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Julian Smith) on 15 January 2013, as well as with a number of other Members with an interest, during which the event was discussed. We are delighted that Yorkshire is hosting this important sporting occasion. UK Sport is working with the organisers to assess what advice and support it can provide to ensure it is a great success.

Tourism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consideration she has given to the potential contribution of the Tour de France to the tourism economy of England in 2014.

Hugh Robertson: Government has not made any specific assessment of the impact of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire. Yorkshire submitted their bid independently and as part of that developed their own economic impact study. UK Sport are working with Yorkshire to assess what support they can give to the event, and I expect that Yorkshire will provide an economic impact assessment as part of this process.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Aviation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many air miles were accumulated by each Minister in her Department in 2012; how such air miles were used; and whether such air miles were donated to charity.

Justine Greening: As part of long-standing practice under the ministerial code, any air miles accrued personally by Ministers from departmental travel are not redeemed and are removed from accounts after a short period of time. Any air miles accrued by the Department in respect to Ministers or officials are used towards the cost of official travel.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2012, Official Report, column 556W, on developing countries: health services, in which countries her Department (a) is supporting and (b) has supported in each of the last 12 months programmes that make abortions safe and accessible; and what independent evidence her Department has used to verify that such services (i) are safe and (ii) save women's lives.

Lynne Featherstone: As part of our overall commitment to reduce maternal mortality and improve reproductive health, the UK Government is working to reduce recourse to unsafe abortion. Our vision is a developing world where all women are able to exercise choice over the size and timing of their families, where no woman dies giving birth and where all newborns survive and thrive.
	The Department for International Development's (DFID) support for Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health (RMNH) programmes through government and non-government partners extends to 26 of our 28 priority countries—the only exceptions being the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Tajikistan. Our efforts prioritise expanding access to voluntary family planning and include support for comprehensive abortion care where countries' national legislation permits.
	Unsafe abortion is estimated to account for 13% of maternal deaths. Research that shows that access to safe abortion, in addition to voluntary family planning, saves maternal lives, reduces maternal ill-health, does not increase overall abortion rates and reduces recourse to unsafe abortion. In developing its policy position and in programming decisions DFID draws on published evidence and guidelines from a range of sources including from the World Health Organisation, the Guttmacher Institute, the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and The Lancet. DFID is also commissioning independent evaluations of its RMNH programmes.

India

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department is providing to India for programmes to tackle violence against women; and whether such support will cease with the general aid programme in 2015.

Alan Duncan: In India the Department for International Development is supporting the Government of Bihar to implement India's 2005 Domestic Violence Act and conduct new research on violence prevention; supporting the Government of Madhya Pradesh to implement a new ‘safe city’ approach in four cities; and funds Oxfam to implement anti-violence campaigns and provide victim support services, including women's centres in police stations. UK support for these programmes will finish by 2015.
	From now on, the UK will provide no new financial grants to India. Plans for technical assistance programmes beyond 2015 will be finalised closer to the time.

Mali

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of whether the deployment to Mali will contribute to poverty alleviation; and whether the marginal costs of the deployment would be a reasonable charge to her departmental budget.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK is working closely with the French Government, regional governments, the United Nations and other international actors to achieve a short-term resolution to the crisis, and the longer term conditions for security and economic development in Mali. Stabilisation of the situation and the return to a more secure environment in Mali will help the Malian Government in tackling its development challenges.
	The cost of UK military assets in a military deployment would not be chargeable to the development budget or reportable as Official Development Assistance (ODA). My Department is able to meet the marginal cost when UK military assets are used to directly support an international humanitarian response, but not in support of a military operation such as is seen presently in Mali.

Mali

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Mali;
	(2)  what humanitarian priorities she has set for responding to the escalation of hostilities in Mali;
	(3)  what assistance her Department is providing to internally displaced people and refugees fleeing conflict in Mali;
	(4)  what steps her Department is taking to protect women and support victims of gender-based violence in Mali;
	(5)  what steps her Department is taking to provide safe humanitarian access to all parts of Mali.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government remains closely focused on the humanitarian implications of the escalating conflict in Mali.
	Latest UN and aid agency assessments report that up to 30,000 additional people have been internally displaced in Mali and over 1,000 people have sought refuge into neighbouring countries as a direct result of the recent upsurge in conflict. In total, over 370,000 Malians have been displaced from their homes since March 2012.
	In December 2012, I announced an additional £15 million package of emergency aid for the Sahel to support over 500,000 people across Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. This brings the total UK bilateral and multilateral humanitarian support aid to the Sahel over the last 12 months to £73 million. Our latest humanitarian aid to those directly affected by the Mali crisis includes:
	Food for 92,000 people, including internally displaced people (IDPs) and host families;
	Therapeutic food to treat 15,000 severely malnourished children;
	A comprehensive package of support (food, health care and protection) for 148,000 Malian refugees in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania;
	Emergency health care—including support to those injured in the conflict and women suffering from psychological trauma as result of sexual violence; clean water and livestock support to over 100,000 people, including IDPs.
	The UK will continue to monitor the regional humanitarian situation closely to ensure that needs are being met effectively and efficiently. We are liaising closely with the United Nations, key non-governmental organisations and others to ensure that a comprehensive response is made to ensure the protection of civilians, including the restoration of safe humanitarian access and full respect for international humanitarian law.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how much her Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12;
	(2)  pursuant to her answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 320W, on press subscriptions, how much her Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010.

Alan Duncan: The financial records of DFID show the following costs for the printed press subscriptions since 1 May 2010 until 31 December 2012:
	
		
			 Period £ 
			 1 May 2010 to 31 March 2011 8,004.54 
			 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 8,919.38 
			 1 April 2012 to 31 December 2012 8,316.32 
		
	
	All of the publications by DFID have either carried pieces of interest to DFID or have written articles relating to DFID's work.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how often her Department produces a staff magazine.

Alan Duncan: DFID does not produce a magazine for staff.

Syria

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Syria.

Alan Duncan: The humanitarian situation in Syria and across the region is extremely concerning. 4 million people in Syria are now in need, 2 million of whom have been displaced. There are a further 620,000 refugees in neighbouring countries. In addition, the region has just experienced the worst winter storms in 10 years, leaving people who have had to flee their homes even more vulnerable. The security situation is continually deteriorating making it increasingly difficult to get aid to those who need it.
	The UK continues to be a leading donor in the humanitarian response. Our total funding to date is £68.5 million. This funding has already provided over 400,000 food packages, clean drinking water for over 11,000 people each month, and over 40,000 medical consultations. The UN appeals remain severely underfunded however, and humanitarian needs are increasing. We need other countries to step up their support too. We will be using the high-level pledging conference co-hosted by the UN and Kuwait on 30 January to call on the international community for more, and better co-ordinated, funding.

Taxis

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department spent on taxis in 2011-12.

Alan Duncan: The total DFID spent on taxis within the UK and abroad for year 2011-12 is £228,000. All expenditure is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

EDUCATION

Education Maintenance Allowance

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many young people lost funding as a result of the abolition of the education maintenance allowance; and what the average loss was per person.

David Laws: holding answer 16 January 2013
	In 2009/10, the last full academic year of the education maintenance allowance (EMA), 645,415 students received average annual payments of £726.
	New claims for EMA ended in January 2011 and the £180 million 16-19 Bursary Fund was introduced in September 2011. From that point, the most vulnerable students previously receiving EMA became eligible for an annual bursary of £1,200. This is more than they would have received under EMA. We estimate that approximately 19,000 vulnerable bursaries were awarded in the 2011/12 academic year.
	All other students who had successfully applied for EMA in 2009/10 continued to receive payments at the level set out in their EMA guarantee until the end of the 2011/12 academic year. 80,146 students fell into this category and none of these students experienced a loss in funding as a result of the abolition of EMA.
	All students who successfully applied for the maximum weekly EMA payment of £30 in 2010/11 received £20 a week until the end of the 2011/12 academic year. 181,103 students fell into this category.
	Those students who had successfully applied for weekly EMA payments of £10 or £20 in 2010/11 did not receive any EMA payments in 2011/12. 50,960 students fell into this category.
	All students in further education and training in 2011/12, including those whose EMA payments were reduced or came to an end, were eligible to apply for discretionary support from the 16-19 Bursary Fund. It is not possible therefore to give the overall annual loss for students who had their EMA support reduced or withdrawn, as we do not know if they received bursaries.

Physical Education: Teachers

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  if he will extend funding for secondary school physical education teachers to be released for one day a week to work with primary schools beyond July 2013;
	(2)  what plans he has to support the delivery of physical education and school sport in primary schools following the removal of secondary school physical education teacher release funding; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 6 November 2012
	In November 2010, the Secretary of State for Education announced that he was making funding available to secondary schools to enable the release of a physical education teacher from timetable for one day a week to work with local primary schools to increase opportunities for competitive sport and to encourage them to sign up for the School Games. At the time, the Secretary of State made it clear that the funding was for the two academic years 2011/12 and 2012/13 only. Beyond then, he expects that schools should have embedded this work into their core provision.
	The final payment of PE teacher release funding will be made to eligible secondary schools after April next year. This will cover the summer term 2013.
	The Secretary of State is considering a range of measures to improve school sport provision from September 2013 and beyond. He will make an announcement in due course.

School Leaving

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of additional students in (a) schools, (b) further education colleges, (c) sixth form colleges, (d) apprenticeships, (e) other employment with training and (f) other forms of education and training as a result of the raised participation age;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of additional students in (a) schools, (b) colleges, (c) apprenticeships, (d) other employment with training and (e) other education in each local authority area as a result of the raised participation age in 2013-14 and in 2014-15;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing the raised participation age by the end of academic year 2014-15 (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area;
	(4)  what additional funding he will make available to further education colleges in relation to the introduction of the raised participation age;
	(5)  what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing the raised participation age in 2013-14.

David Laws: As part of the current spending review settlement, the Department for Education secured sufficient funding to provide a place in education or training for all 16-year-olds able to participate from the academic year 2013/14 and to be on an appropriate trajectory to fund a place for every 17-year-old able to participate from the academic year 2015/16. This underpins our commitment to raise the age of compulsory participation in education and training.
	The precise number of places to be funded and the funding needed for 2013/14 and 2014/15 will be determined as part of the annual allocation process. This process determines the funding to be received by each school, college and other provider. The vast majority of funding for places is determined on the basis of recruitment in the previous academic year (known as "lagged" numbers) and these numbers and the funding associated with them are not confirmed until the start of the following calendar year. The allocation process for 2013/14 will inform providers of their allocation by March 2013. The process for 2014/15 will inform providers by March 2014.
	For individual schools and colleges, the Education Funding Agency will publish these allocations on the Department's website after they are made. We plan to announce a national aggregation of the allocation of places for 2013/14 and funding for 2013-14 in the Funding Statement in March 2013.

Schools: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect on funding for education in each year between 2011-12 and 2016-17 of the projected growth in the school age population.

David Laws: The projected growth in the school age population impacts on the schools budget for both revenue and capital.
	For 2011-15 these budgets were allocated in the 2010 spending review on the basis of projected increases in pupil numbers to the end of the spending review period. At the 2012 autumn statement, a spending review to cover only 2015-16 was announced, for which the Department will use projected pupil numbers.
	The Government has committed to maintaining schools revenue funding on a flat-cash per pupil basis, which means that this element of education funding increases each year in line with the projected increase in pupil numbers. Significant extra funding is also being provided for disadvantaged children through the pupil premium which in 2013-14 will amount to £900 per eligible pupil. Total funding through the premium will be £2.5 billion in 2014-15.

Youth Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 6 December 2012, Official Report, column 869W, on youth services, 
	(1)  whether lists of visits were drawn up by Ministers' private offices in preparation for answering the question; and for what reason a list of visits was not published;
	(2)  whether he received advice not to publish lists of youth projects visited; and who advised him;
	(3)  what advice was provided by special advisers on answering the question.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 18 December 2012
	It was not possible to put together a comprehensive list of visits without incurring disproportionate cost. An initial list was created, but routine checks by advisers and Private Secretaries picked up concerns about the accuracy and coverage of the list, and so a shorter answer was provided.
	The incomplete list of ministerial visits to youth projects between May 2010 and October 2012 is as follows:
	Secretary of State
	None.
	Nick Gibb
	Ashwell Pupil Referral Unit, Bransholme, Hull
	Joint Youth Music and Federation of Music Event.
	Matthew Hancock
	None.
	John Hayes
	None.
	Lord Hill
	Fairbridge Kennington Centre.
	David Laws
	None.
	Tim Loughton
	The Salmon Centre, London
	Young Carers Festival, Southampton
	Prince’s Trust Wimbledon
	Young Disciples Bristol
	Make Space Youth Health, West Sussex
	Kids Company, London
	Parent Intervention Sheffield
	The Soul Project, London
	Hove YMCA
	Activenture, East Sussex
	The Station, Bristol
	A Way Out, Stockton
	Catch 22, Herne Bay
	Horizons Centre, London
	Preston Myplace
	Carlisle NCS Pilot
	Carlisle Myplace
	Dorking NCS Pilot
	Brighton NCS Pilot
	Sheffield Futures
	Youth Zone Nelson
	Hackney Myplace
	Leicester YMCA
	Youthnet Leicester
	Cooperative/Truth About Youth Drama Project, London
	Media Trust Youth Radio Station, London
	LEAP London
	Philip Lawrence Awards Young Citizens, Lewisham
	The Orchard Programme, London
	Groundwork UK's Communities Project, London
	CRI's Lewisham Young People's Substance Misuse Service
	Prince's Trust XI Club London
	Brigg Youth Centre North Lincolnshire
	Cedars Youth and Community Centre, Harrow
	Harold Hill Youth Centre Romford
	Open Youth Trust Myplace Project, Norwich
	Catch 22 NCS Pilot Devizes.
	Sarah Teather
	Children and Youth Board Awards Presentation London
	Young People's Learning Agency Board, London.
	Edward Timpson
	British Youth Council.
	Elizabeth Truss
	None.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Community Infrastructure Levy

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to ensure that all new houses built in a council's administrative area attract the Community Infrastructure Levy; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Boles: Local planning authorities can choose to adopt the Community Infrastructure Levy. When they adopt the levy they must determine the appropriate rate or rates. Charging authorities can set differential rates for different geographical zones and by reference to different intended uses of development. This is a local decision based on evidence of economic viability and infrastructure need.
	The guidance we have issued makes clear there is no requirement for councils to adopt a levy: they may set a zero rate if they wish.

Hostels: Young People

Julie Hilling: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what statistics and information are collected at (a) national, (b) regional and (c) local level on (i) the number of young people who are turned away from hostel accommodation, (ii) the reasons for any increase in demand in hostel accommodation and (iii) where and how soon young people turned away from hostels find accommodation.

Mark Prisk: The Department does not collect the information referred to in the question at any geographical level. The most relevant information that it collects from local authorities on the quarterly Homelessness (PIE) return is the number of 16 or 17-year-old applicant households accommodated in hostels at the end of each quarter.

Housing

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the purpose of the New Homes Bonus has been amended to include the funding of council care services; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: New Homes Bonus funding has always been paid as an un-ringfenced grant, meaning that local authorities are free to spend it as they see fit. There has therefore been no change to the purposes to which New Homes Bonus funding may be put. As with all funding, we expect local authorities to consult local communities on how the Bonus is spent.

Housing: Construction

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new planning permissions for housing were approved by each local authority in England in each quarter from 2005 to the latest quarter for which figures are available. [R]

Nicholas Boles: holding answer 20 December 2012
	A table showing the number of planning decisions and permissions for each local authority in England from 2005-06 to 2011-12 has been placed in the Library of the House.
	It has not been possible to provide this information for every quarter as requested in the time available.
	The number of granted residential planning applications in 2011-12 is higher than the rate this Government inherited in 2009-10.
	Historic figures on the number of minor residential applications are affected by changes in permitted development rights.
	There is scope for removing more un-contentious, small-scale minor residential planning applications from the system and we have been consulting on this matter.

Housing: Finance

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2012, Official Report, column 880W, on Housing: Finance, how much expenditure is committed to be paid to each housing authority in England over the next six years as a consequence of allocations of New Homes Bonus made to date.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 10 January 2013
	A table setting out this information, which is based on provisional data and is subject to consultation, has been placed in the Library of the House.
	A total of £3.3 billion is committed to local authorities in New Homes Bonus grant over the next six years (from 2013-14 to 2018-19), to reward councils for homes that have already been built. This includes £228 million in affordable homes premium.

Mortgages

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration his Department has given to extending the mortgage indemnity guarantee to banks offering mortgages to first-time buyers of right to buy properties.

Mark Prisk: The NewBuy Guarantee scheme has brought 95% loan to value mortgages for new build properties back to the market. NewBuy is for both first time buyers and existing home owners.
	We are committed to helping tenants fulfil their home-ownership aspirations and we have increased the maximum discount available for the right to buy to £75,000. This Government is exploring ways to further support those wishing to exercise the right to buy.

Part-Time Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of staff in his Department work part-time.

Brandon Lewis: The proportion of staff working part time in my Department as of 31 December 2012 was 11%.

Railways: Freight

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his letter of 19 September 2012 to interested parties, for what reasons he decided not to hold a conjoined inquiry into the Radlett and Colnbrook rail freight proposals.

Nicholas Boles: I refer my hon. Friend to the letter of 14 December 2012 which stated that, having given very careful consideration to the comments submitted, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), was satisfied that he could determine the Radlett proposal on the basis of the evidence before him.

Railways: Radlett

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if any factors in his decision of 20 December 2012 to approve the Radlett rail freight proposal were brought to his attention after 19 September 2012.

Nicholas Boles: The letter of 20 December 2012 sets out the reasons for the decision. It lists the representations taken into account including those received after 19 September 2012. I cannot add to that letter.

Railways: Radlett

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what meetings have taken place between Ministers in his Department and outside bodies on the Radlett rail freight proposal since 19 September 2012;
	(2)  what meetings (a) Ministers in his Department, (b) special advisers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have held with representatives of the rail freight industry since 19 September 2012.

Nicholas Boles: As part of the Department's transparency programme, details of departmental meetings between Ministers and outside bodies are routinely published on our website.
	Information about meetings between outside bodies and officials/Special Advisers is not centrally held and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	All representatives of the Department act in accordance with Guidance on Planning Propriety Issues, which is published at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-propriety-issues-guidance
	I also refer my hon. Friend to my answer given to him today on Radlett representations PQ 137644.

Railways: Radlett

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations he has received concerning the Radlett rail freight proposal since 19 September 2012 other than those previously disclosed as responses to the Government's consultation.

Nicholas Boles: Details of all representations received were included in the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), Minded To Allow letter of 20 December 2012. When the final decision letter is issued that will include any further representations received.

Social Enterprises

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to introduce social enterprise zones; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 15 January 2013
	Local areas are best placed to decide their economic ambitions, so we are pleased to see that local enterprise partnerships like the Black Country are intending to launch social enterprise zones as a way of supporting growth. Social enterprises have a key role in boosting local economies, encouraging entrepreneurialism and creating jobs, and can support partnerships to deliver their economic priorities. This Government is working to promote social enterprise and the social investment market through:
	a £20 million Social Outcomes Fund to attract investment to complex social problems;
	the launch of Big Society Capital—the first social investment institution of its kind; and
	the £10 million Investment and Contract Readiness Fund for social ventures not yet sufficiently developed to access Big Society Capital.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Aviation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many air miles were accumulated by each Minister in his Department in 2012; how such air miles were used; and whether such air miles were donated to charity.

David Lidington: No figures are held for the number of air miles accrued by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Ministers on official travel. Not all Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers are registered for air miles schemes. Where a Minister has been registered, any air miles accrued will be used for official purposes, foregone or donated to charity, in line with the Ministerial Code.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what legal expenses have been incurred by his Department in cases relating to British Indian Ocean Territory since 1983; and what proportion of that total was incurred in relation to the recent case determined by the European Court of Human Rights.

Mark Simmonds: Since 1990, from when records are available, the total cost incurred by the Foreign and Commonwealth office in cases relating to British Indian Ocean Territory is £2,404,808.72. The cost of the European Court of Human Rights case represents 1.57% of this total.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the US authorities on access by Chagosians to the Chagos archipelago and resettlement by them of that archipelago.

Mark Simmonds: I have had no recent discussions with the US authorities on access by Chagossians to the Chagos archipelago or resettlement by Chagossians. Officials notify the US authorities in advance of any Chagossians visiting the British Indian Ocean territory as part of our programme of heritage and science visits.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received on the effects of climate change and sea levels on British Indian Ocean Territory since 2011.

Mark Simmonds: The British Indian Ocean Territory Administration has received information on climate change and sea level since 2011 from a number of scientific and academic sources. The issue of rising sea levels, and of coastal erosion, in the British Indian Ocean Territory is clearly one of concern to the British Government and we will continue to keep it under close review.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with (a) Chagos islanders and (b) other interested parties since the declaration of the marine protection area around British Indian Ocean Territory; and what subjects were raised at those discussions.

Mark Simmonds: Officials have met with Chagossian leaders, and held telephone conferences with those based in Seychelles and Mauritius, on a number of occasions since the declaration of the Marine Protected Area. Most of these meetings have mainly focused on the organisation of visits to the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) by Chagossians and involvement of Chagossians in environmental projects. Some Chagossian leaders have refused to participate in discussions on the latter. Officials have also had frequent informal discussions with a wide variety of Chagossians during visits, at conferences and during outreach events. The high commissioner in Port Louis has regular meetings with Chagossian leaders in Mauritius and Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office Ministers have met Chagossian leaders, sometimes with members of the All Party Parliamentary Group.
	Officials continue to meet with a wide range of interested parties on BIOT. The largest of these groups are scientists interested in research and conservation on the Territory.

Imports: Israel

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to prohibit the importation of products produced by Israeli settlers in Occupied Palestinian Territories into the UK.

Alistair Burt: There is no specific UK legislation prohibiting the purchase of settlement produce. The UK Government understands that people have different points of view on the issue and that some may not wish to purchase goods exported from the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories which are illegal under international law. It was in order to enable consumers to make a more fully informed decision concerning the products they buy that, in December 2009, the UK introduced voluntary guidelines to retailers and supermarkets to enable produce from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories to be specifically labelled as such.
	The issue of settlement produce is a subject of discussion with our EU partners. EU Foreign Ministers, at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 10 December, reiterated the commitment made in 14 May to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products.
	This ongoing work includes measures to ensure that settlement produce does not enter the EU duty-free, under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and that settlement products are not incorrectly labelled as Israeli produce, in violation of EU consumer protection regulations. There are, however, currently no plans for EU or domestic legislation on this issue.

Kashmir

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the armed contact between India and Pakistan in Kashmir on 6 January 2013.

Hugo Swire: We are concerned about the recent incidents on both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir. There were two incidents on 6 and 8 January involving cross-border incursions on both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir and another cross-firing incident on 10 January. These have resulted in the loss of life of two soldiers on each side. Officials in New Delhi and Islamabad are in touch with governments in both capitals. We welcome the call for dialogue from both sides in response to these incidents and highlighted the need not to derail the recent positive developments in bilateral relations.

Mongolia

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to mark the UK's recognition of Mongolia as a sovereign de jure state 50 years ago.

Hugo Swire: There are a number of events planned throughout 2013 to mark the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations between the UK and Mongolia. We are working closely with our embassy in Ulaanbaatar and with the Mongolian Government to make these events a success, and to ensure they further strengthen the relationship.
	The celebrations will be opened by a Foreign and Commonwealth Office reception on 23 January, involving government officials from both countries, leading businesses and other key stakeholders.
	There will also be a number of high level visits in both directions throughout the year to mark the anniversary, beginning with a visit by the Mongolian Minister of Education in January.

Occupied Territories

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to prohibit UK-based financial institutions from financing (a) the building of Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories and (b) businesses owned by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Alistair Burt: Our position on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve. The UK condemns decisions taken to build settlement units, calls for these decisions to be reversed, and for Israel to cease all settlement activity.
	International law does not impose obligations on corporations and for a UK company to operate in the Israeli settlements or to provide financial assistance to companies in settlements, is not, per se, contrary to UK law. No UK public funds have gone in direct support of settlements. The issue of settlement financing is under active consideration in London and Brussels. However, there are no current plans for the Government to issue advice to UK-based companies and financial institutions on this matter, or for EU or domestic legislation on this issue.

Palestinians

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Palestinian Authority with a view to encouraging greater trade between the UK and Palestine.

Alistair Burt: UK Trade and Investment officials in Jerusalem have held a series of road shows in the main cities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) to showcase the services the UK presence offers.
	The British Consul-General to Jerusalem also hosted a reception on 12 December 2012 to celebrate the opening of the Jerusalem Business Forum, attended by 200 senior local and international contacts.
	In addition, we continue to lobby the Israeli Government to ease restrictions on movement and access, one of the major barriers to trade and economic development in the OPTs.

Sea of Japan

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent conversations his Department has had with the (a) government of Japan and (b) government of the Republic of Korea on the disputed Dokdo Islands in the Sea of Japan.

Hugo Swire: South Korea and Japan are two of our closest allies in the region. We therefore regularly meet representatives from both of their Governments to discuss a wide range of issues and I returned from Tokyo on 16 January.
	Both Governments have raised this issue with us at official level since former President Lee of South Korea visited the islands in August.
	The UK does not take a position on either country's claim. We would like to see a peaceful resolution in line with international law. We see cooperation between the two countries as essential to stability in the Asia Pacific Region. Given the recent elections in both countries, we hope that the new Governments in South Korea and Japan will take this opportunity to work closely together. Consequently, we welcome the recent visit of the Japanese Special Envoy Fukushiro Nukaga to meet South Korean President-elect Park.

Sri Lanka

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with (a) the UN, (b) his EU counterparts and (c) his Commonwealth counterparts on improving human rights in Sri Lanka.

Alistair Burt: The British Government regularly urges the Sri Lankan Government to improve the human rights situation, and to investigate infringements of human rights and prosecute those responsible. Officials are frequently in contact with their counterparts in the UN, EU and Commonwealth.
	At the UN, we raised human rights concerns during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council in November. We look forward with interest to the 'Report of the Working Group' from Sri Lanka's UPR; which we expect to be formally adopted in March 2013.
	The UK, in conjunction with the European Union Heads of Mission, also released a statement on 5 December, expressing our concern about recent developments in Sri Lanka surrounding the rule of law and individual freedoms. We welcome the statements from the Commonwealth Secretary-General on the same issue of 12 December and 13 January.
	We will continue to use every opportunity to raise concerns with the Sri Lankan Government, including my visit in the coming weeks.

Sri Lanka

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

Alistair Burt: The British Government continues to have concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka. Our latest update can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Human Rights report at:
	http://fcohrdreport.readandcomment.com/human-rights-in-countries-of-concern/sri-lanka/quarterly-updates-sri-lanka/
	We seek to promote progress through direct lobbying, working with international partners, and funding human rights projects. We also regularly urge the Sri Lankan Government to improve the human rights situation, and to investigate infringements of human rights and prosecute those responsible.
	The British Government is deeply concerned by recent developments surrounding rule of law and individual freedoms. On 11 January, the FCO issued a statement on the recent impeachment of the Chief Justice, which can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-deeply-concerned-by-move-to-impeach-sri-lankan-chief-justice

WALES

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Stephen Crabb: There are (a) five members of staff and (b) no special advisers at the Wales Office who have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many letters he has received (a) supporting and (b) opposing the introduction of the Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill; what response his Department gave to such letters; if he will place that response in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

David Jones: I have received no letters from members of the public regarding the Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill.

Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with (a) black and minority ethnic, (b) Muslim and (c) Jewish communities in Wales on the introduction of presumed consent in to the organ donation system.

David Jones: I have discussed the introduction of presumed consent to the organ donation system with the UK and Welsh Governments.
	The Welsh Government completed an equality impact assessment which is contained in the explanatory memorandum to the Bill.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office spent £7,214 on newspapers and periodicals in the last financial year.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2012, Official Report, column 1W, on subscriptions, how much his Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office has spent £150 on subscriptions since May 2010.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how often his Department produces a staff magazine.

David Jones: The Wales Office does not produce a staff magazine.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in her Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Theresa Villiers: 12 staff in my Department have use of a Government Procurement Card, 11 of which are used solely for the purposes of purchasing stationery from previously agreed suppliers and one is used solely for travel bookings. No special advisers in my Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much her Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Theresa Villiers: During the financial year 2011-12, my Department spent a total of £18,079 on newspapers and periodicals.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 213W, on press subscriptions, how much her Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010.

Theresa Villiers: My Department has not incurred any spend on press subscriptions since May 2010.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how often her Department produces a staff magazine.

Michael Penning: My Department produces an electronic staff magazine on a quarterly basis.

Taxis

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much her Department spent on taxis in 2011-12.

Theresa Villiers: During the financial year 2011-12, my Department spent a total of £26,811 on taxis.

Transplant Surgery

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions (a) she, (b) Ministers in her Department and (c) officials in her Department have had with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive on (i) the use of organs for transplants in Northern Ireland and (ii) the introduction of presumed consent for organ transplants in Wales; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: These are transferred matters for which my Department has no responsibility. Northern Ireland Executive Ministers have not raised these matters with me nor have there been any discussions on them between my officials and their counterparts in the devolved Northern Ireland Departments.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Aviation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many air miles were accumulated by each Minister in his Department in 2012; how such air miles were used; and whether such air miles were donated to charity.

Gregory Barker: Travel arrangements made by the Department of Energy and Climate Change for Ministers are made in accordance with the Ministerial Code, including those elements of the code specifically relating to air miles. These set out the appropriate uses that include departmental travel and donation to charity. The Department does not keep a record of the past allocation of any air miles accrued to those different purposes.

Energy: Meters

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to prevent energy companies using smart meter data to increase energy prices at peak times.

John Hayes: We do not regulate prices in the retail market. The UK has a competitive energy market, with the lowest gas prices and fourth lowest electricity prices in the EU15. Once smart meters are available, we expect some consumers to benefit from tariffs that include differential prices at different times, depending on their patterns of consumption, and will have a choice as to whether to move to such a tariff.

Energy: Meters

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take so that the cost of the mandatory installation of smart meters is not passed on to consumers.

John Hayes: The Government has put in place licence conditions on suppliers so that consumers are not subject to one-off up-front charges for the installation of a standard smart meter and in home display. Under current arrangements consumers pay for their meters, and their maintenance, through their energy bills and this will continue for smart meters.

Meetings

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Google in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(2)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Amazon in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(3)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Oracle in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(4)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Xerox in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(5)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Dell CSC in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(6)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Symantec in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Gregory Barker: All meetings between external organisations and DECC Ministers are published on a quarterly basis on the DECC website and are available for download at this link:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/registers.aspx

Nuclear Power Stations: Decommissioning

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change who is to meet the waste disposal costs not paid by operators in the Funded Decommissioning Plans to be approved by the Secretary of State under the Energy Act 2008.

John Hayes: The terms on which the Government will take title to and liability for the higher activity radioactive waste from a new nuclear power station for disposal in the planned Geological Disposal Facility will be set out in a Waste Contract, that will be agreed alongside the operator's Funded Decommissioning programme. The price that Government will charge the operator for this service, the Waste Transfer Price, will be determined in accordance with the Government's published Waste Transfer Pricing Methodology:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/waste_trans/waste_trans.aspx
	The Waste Transfer Price will be set at a level consistent with the Government's policy that operators of new nuclear power stations should meet their full share of waste management costs. Hence it is not expected that there will be any costs incurred in the disposal of higher activity waste from a new nuclear power station that are not covered by the Waste Transfer Price.

Nuclear Power Stations: Decommissioning

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what method is to be used to calculate the share of waste disposal costs to be met by operators in the Funded Decommissioning Plans provided for by the Energy Act 2008.

John Hayes: The Government's policy is that it expects higher activity waste from new nuclear power stations to be disposed of in the Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) that is to be built for the disposal of legacy waste. The terms on which the Government will take title to and liability for the waste from a new nuclear power station for disposal in the GDF will be set out in a Waste Contract, that will be agreed alongside the operator's Funded Decommissioning programme. The Department has published a Waste Transfer Pricing methodology which sets out how the price charged to operators of the new nuclear sites is to be determined:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/waste_trans/waste_trans.aspx

Petroleum Act 1998

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2013, Official Report, column 426W, on Petroleum Act 1998, to whom the 17 notices have been served.

John Hayes: The information requested is commercially sensitive and as such it is not appropriate to publish it.

Taxis

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent on taxis in 2011-12.

Gregory Barker: The Department spent £51,000 on taxis in the period April 2011 to March 2012.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the monetary value was of the Warm Homes Discount distributed (a) nationally, (b) in Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) in Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency in 2011-12.

Gregory Barker: In 2011-12, the Warm Home Discount scheme provided support valued at £237.5 million across the UK to persons in or at risk of fuel poverty in the form of a £120 rebate on their energy bills. Regional or constituency breakdowns for this data are not available.
	Further details about the 2011-12 scheme year are in the Ofgem Annual Report for the Warm Home Discount, which is available here:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/Environment/WHDS/Documents1/WHD_AR_08_Oct_2012.pdf

SCOTLAND

Carers

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met carers groups in Scotland to discuss the effects of the Government's welfare reform policies.

David Mundell: Scotland Office Ministers have met with a range of individuals and organisations to discuss the Government's programme of welfare reform and work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure people from all backgrounds are supported to move into work where they are able to do so or, if appropriate, have access to the support and care necessary for them to lead full, active and independent lives.

Disability

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met groups representing people with disabilities to discuss the effects of the Government's welfare reform programme.

David Mundell: Scotland Office Ministers have met with a range of individuals and organisations to discuss the Government's programme for reform of the welfare system and work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure people from all backgrounds are supported to move into work where they are able to do so or, if appropriate, have access to the support necessary for them to lead full, active and independent lives.

Food Banks

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has visited a food bank since October 2012.

David Mundell: The Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore), is visiting a food bank next month.

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has seven Government Procurement Cards, six of which have been issued to staff and one to the special adviser.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office spent £5,430 on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to his answer of 30 October 2012, Official Report, column 142W, on press subscriptions, how much his Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office spend on magazine, journal and newspaper subscriptions since May 2010 is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2010-11 (May 2010-March 2011) 4,235 
			 2011-12 5,430 
			 2012-13 (April 2012-December 2012) 3,841

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how often his Department produces a staff magazine.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not produce a staff magazine.

Taxis

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on taxis in 2011-12.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office spent £19,967 on taxis in 2011-12.

TREASURY

Business: Charitable Donations

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to encourage small and medium-sized businesses to undertake charitable donations and charitable support.

Sajid Javid: Companies can claim tax relief on donations of money made to charity by simply deducting the amount of the donation from their profit for corporation tax purposes.
	Companies can also benefit from corporation tax relief on gifts of land, property or qualifying shares to charity. Companies and unincorporated businesses are also eligible for tax relief on a number of other types of gifts to charities, for example on gifts of trading stock and plant and machinery, and on the secondment of employees to charity.
	Guidance on giving to charities by businesses is available on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/businesses/giving/index.htm

Child Benefit

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of households affected by the changes to higher income child benefit had applied to stop receiving child benefit payments by 1 January 2013, (a) in total, (b) by using the online form, (c) by using the child benefit hotline or (d) by writing to the child benefit office.

David Gauke: The proportion of households affected by the introduction of the high income child benefit charge and who had elected to stop receiving child benefit payments up to and including 1 January 2013 was as follows:
	(a) in total—approximately 16%;
	(b) by using the online form—approximately 12%;
	(c) by making their election over the telephone—approximately 4%; and
	(d) in writing to HMRC—approximately 0.03%.
	HMRC's initial estimate of the proportion of households who would elect to stop, receiving child benefit was 10%.
	The final portion was 27%.

Child Benefit

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the range of potential penalties or fines is for those taxpayers who did not meet his 7 January 2013 deadline to register an opt-out under the higher income child benefit charge and who did not declare the continuing receipt of child benefit in a 2012-13 tax return.

David Gauke: The high income child benefit charge took effect on 7 January 2013. It was not a deadline for claimants to stop payments of child benefit. Claimants can elect to stop such payments at any time and the opt out process does not attract any penalties or fines.
	Where a claimant chooses to keep some or all of their child benefit payments, however, affected taxpayers will need to notify HM Revenue and Customs of any tax liability through the Self Assessment process. The deadline for notifying this liability in relation to the tax year 2012-13 is 5 October 2013. The self assessment return will be due by 31 January 2014. Those who do not notify HMRC by 5 October 2013 or submit their Self Assessment return late will be subject to the usual penalty regime. More information is available on the HMRC website:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/compliance/cc-fs11.pdf
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/deadlines-penalties.htm#3

Child Benefit

Dominic Raab: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a housewife whose husband earns over £360,000 a year will continue to receive national insurance credits towards her state pension if the couple cancel their child benefit, or whether the couple need to continue to claim the child benefit and allow it to be paid back via the husband's tax bill in order for her to continue to receive those credits.

David Gauke: The importance of claiming child benefit is made very clear in all HMRC's child benefit literature (such as for example, the child benefit claim form, and the claim notes), it is also covered extensively on the HMRC website, where the full guidance about the charge can be found at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefitcharge/
	Parents and carers where either they or their partner have an income of £50,000 or above will have two options to safeguard their state pension:
	they can claim child benefit, receive the payments and, if liable, they or their partner can pay the new tax charge; or
	they can elect not to receive payments of child benefit. However, they will continue to be treated as claiming child benefit for the purposes of establishing entitlement to the national insurance credits.
	By claiming child benefit:
	a claimant can qualify for national insurance credits that can protect entitlement to state pension;
	can help protect entitlement to other benefits such as guardian's allowance;
	ensures the child is automatically issued with a national insurance number before their 16th birthday.

Child Benefit: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people in Scotland who will be affected by the planned changes to child benefit.

David Gauke: In 2013-14, HMRC estimates that approximately 85,000 families (rounded to the nearest 5,000) in Scotland will be affected by the high income child benefit charge.
	This-charge is being introduced so that those on lower incomes do not continue to subsidise the better off. 85% of claimants will be unaffected by this charge.

Fuels: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will extend the rural fuel discount scheme to remote mainland communities including rural areas within Aberconwy constituency.

Sajid Javid: Motorists on the Scottish islands and the Isles of Scilly are benefitting from the 5p per litre discount on pump prices since the Government introduced the rural fuel rebate pilot scheme last year.
	The Government will consider whether to seek EU approval for an extension of the scheme to other remote parts of the UK that are likely to display similar cost characteristics to the islands.

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Sajid Javid: At present there are 78 Government Procurement Cards held by staff within the Department. No GP cards are held by special advisers.

Income Tax

Robert Halfon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish (a) any impact assessments and (b) any other internal documents produced by his Department relating to the 2008 decision to abolish the 10 pence rate of income tax.

David Gauke: In line with established practice, it would not be appropriate for Ministers to see or comment on any work undertaken by a previous administration.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to assist the provision of mortgage products for (a) first time buyers and (b) those buyers participating in shared equity schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: Decisions concerning the pricing and availability of mortgages, including shared equity mortgages, remain commercial decisions for individual lenders, and the Government does not seek to intervene in these decisions.
	However, the Government has taken a number of steps to support creditworthy borrowers with a limited deposit get on to the housing ladder with its FirstBuy and NewBuy schemes.
	Shared equity can play an important role in helping people buy a home by reducing the size of the mortgage required. The Government's FirstBuy shared equity scheme is targeted at first-time buyers with an income below £60,000 per annum. The autumn statement provided an additional £280 million for the FirstBuy scheme, building on the £180 million allocated to the scheme in Budget 2011. Taken together, this investment will support 27,000 deposit-constrained first-time buyers in England by March 2014.
	The Government-backed NewBuy scheme provides up to 95% loan to value mortgages for new build properties in England. It is open to UK citizens or those with a right to remain indefinitely in the country, and there is no limit on income for borrowers. This measure looks to ensure that creditworthy borrowers with limited deposits, for example first-time buyers who are looking to buy or move into a new home, have access to mortgages.
	In addition, in July last year the Government and the Bank of England also announced the Funding for Lending Scheme. The FLS is designed to provide strong incentives for banks to increase lending by linking both the amount of funds available to banks, and the price of these funds, to the amount of lending that banks make, thus lowering interest rates and increasing access to credit, including for first-time buyers.

Occupied Territories

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to ensure that products produced by Israeli settlers in Occupied Palestinian Territories do not benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is aware of the risk of misdeclaration of the origin of goods to secure preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Association Agreement. HMRC control this risk in two ways:
	1. Border Force, at the request of HMRC, undertakes targeted pre clearance physical examination of consignments of goods imported under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
	2. HMRC undertakes post clearance audits which provide assurance on business compliance.
	This control regime uses intelligence received from a variety of sources including irregularities previously identified through compliance checks.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Sajid Javid: The Department has steadily decreased spending on newspapers and periodicals as shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Spending (£) 
			 2009-10 189,560 
			 2010-11 62,348 
			 2011-12 47,753

Regional Growth Fund

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider increasing the amount of funds allocated to the regional growth fund.

Danny Alexander: The regional growth fund operates across England and supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment.
	Autumn statement 2012 announced that the Government would provide a further £350 million towards the regional growth fund, taking the total for the fund as a whole to £2.6 billion. More details on the next bidding round will be available shortly.

Revenue and Customs

Nick Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what evaluation HM Revenue and Customs plans to assess its programme to develop its operational delivery profession.

David Gauke: HMRC has developed an evaluation strategy for its operational delivery profession to measure whether objectives have been met, and whether activities meet business need and provide the best value for money.

Revenue and Customs

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the £77 million funding for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced in the 2012 autumn statement will be allocated to each area of HMRC activity; and how many additional staff will be recruited to HMRC as a result of this funding.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 December 2012, Official Report, column 293W.

Revenue and Customs

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the new centre of excellence for tax fraud and evasion announced in the 2012 autumn statement to be operational; and how much funding it will be allocated in each year to 2015.

David Gauke: The autumn statement, 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-82, announcement of a further £77 million to expand HMRC's tax avoidance and evasion activity, included £6 million split equally over two years to fund the work of the offshore evasion centre of excellence.
	HMRC already has a significant programme of work under way to tackle offshore evasion. The new team will build on the established approach to develop a comprehensive strategy for tackling offshore evasion due to be published in spring 2013. There is already a small core team in place to do this. However, the full team, including secondees and external recruitments to work alongside HMRC experts, will become operational only once the funding is in place in April 2013.

Revenue and Customs

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were employed in each area of HM Revenue and Customs' activity in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: The number of staff employed in each area of HM Revenue and Customs' activity in each of the last five years is shown in the following table. For the current financial year we have shown headcount to the end of December 2012.
	
		
			 HMRC headcount by line of business 31 March 2009 31 March 2010 31 March 2011 31 March 2012 31 December 2012 
			 Benefits and Credits 7,322 7,114 6,621 6,130 5,713 
			 Business Tax 4,119 4,044 4,190 4,026 3,842 
			 Enforcement and Compliance 34,762 29,354 28,066 28,084 28,742 
			 Personal Tax 34,773 30,697 29,127 31,072 29,096 
			 Corporate Services 7,899 6,848 6,376 5,671 5,208 
			 HMRC 88,875 78,057 74,380 74,983 72,601 
		
	
	In 2009-10, approximately 4,500 Enforcement and Compliance staff transferred out of the Department to UKBA.

Revenue and Customs

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the £900 million to be spent on HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced in September 2010 has been allocated to each area of HMRC activity.

David Gauke: As part of the 2010 spending review, the Government decided to reinvest £917 million into HMRC for additional compliance activities to bring in £7 billion more revenues in 2014-15, on top of the Department's target of £13 billion.
	Around 65% of the £917 million investment funding is being focussed on the mass market and tax evasion.
	Around 5% is being focused on large businesses and wealthy individuals.
	Around 10% of the investment funding is being focused on tackling organised crime.
	The remaining funding is being spent on a range of interventions designed to collect more debt.

Revenue and Customs: Aviation

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs spent on flights within England in 2011-12.

David Gauke: HMRC spent £263,090 on flights within England in 2011-12 via their contracted travel management company. Where HMRC staff purchased their own tickets and claimed back the cost incurred via an expense claim, the information is not available. The data on HMRC systems is not held in a way as to disaggregate flights within England from other UK flights.
	Spend on flights via HMRC's travel management company show a significant reduction in the last three years:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009-10 867,903 
			 2010-11 336,992 
			 2011-12 263,090 
		
	
	HMRC is committed to reducing travel costs and the impact of its business on the environment. Staff are encouraged to consider alternatives to travel such as voice and video conferencing.
	Where travel is necessary, staff are asked to consider the full cost of their journey and to use public transport. However, it is recognised that there are occasions where some routes with budget airlines are often cheaper when compared to rail tickets purchased at short notice.

Taxis

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on taxis in 2011-12.

Sajid Javid: The total spent on taxis in 2011-12 was £76,640.24. This figure is exclusive of VAT. The comparable figures for 2010-11 and 2009-10 were £97,875.40 and £211,207.09 respectively.
	Taxi hire is for use by all HM Treasury Group staff for business use only.
	The use of a taxi should generally be made where it will save official time or where a disabled member of staff is travelling to attend an official meeting. However, it may be justifiable to use a taxi if an official is carrying classified documents, heavy or bulky luggage or when in an unknown locality as a result of official business. Taxis may also be used when travelling home or to work late at night (after 10.00 pm) or early morning (before 6.30 am) when an alternative method of transport is not available.
	Taxis are defined as a car available with a driver for hire, including a minicab.

Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ask the Office for Budget Responsibility to assess the effects on economic growth of implementation of the provisions of the Welfare Benefits Uprating Bill in each of the next three years.

Sajid Javid: The effects of Government policies on economic growth are routinely assessed by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Information can be found in the OBR's Economic and fiscal outlook, at:
	http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-december-2012/

TRANSPORT

Rail Electrification

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent progress the Government has made on rail electrification; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The Government is committed to an extensive rolling programme of electrification. By the end of the decade, around three quarters of passenger miles travelled in England and Wales will be on electric trains. We plan to electrify around 850 route miles of railway, compared to fewer than 10 route miles in the 13 years of the last Labour Government.

Transport Infrastructure Projects

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress he has made on the transport infrastructure projects announced in the 2011 autumn statement; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McLoughlin: The Government is committed to boosting economic growth through investment in infrastructure. That is why transport infrastructure improvements worth £2.5 billion were announced in the autumn statement 2011, including 35 major projects.
	Work is now under way on over 90% of these projects and construction has already begun on 13 of these projects.

Rail Investment

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for rail investment; and if he will make a statement.

James Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for rail investment; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: Rail is central to this country's economy and future growth. This is why the Government's High Level Output Specification (HLOS) announced in July 2012 provides for over £9.4 billion to be invested in the Railways over 2014-19. As well as supporting economic growth and generating jobs, our investment plans will deliver a greener, more cost efficient railway that is better for freight and better for passengers.

London-Scotland Sleeper Services

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last discussed the future of London to Scotland sleeper services with the Scottish Government; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The Caledonian Sleeper is part of the ScotRail franchise operated by First ScotRail. The responsibility for the specification and management of that franchise rests with the Scottish Government. I have had no discussions with the Scottish Government on this as they have not raised the issue with me.

Rail Services: North Cornwall

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the potential benefits of re-introducing railway services to North Cornwall.

Simon Burns: It is for Cornwall county council to identify the transport needs of the area and to decide whether re-introducing rail services is the best way to meet those needs.
	No recent assessment of the case for re-introduced railway services to North Cornwall has been carried out.

Bus Services

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with bus operators on the cost of bus travel in non-metropolitan areas.

Norman Baker: I have given considerable attention to the cost of bus travel and to young people on buses. I have had discussions with the industry, and there is a new website giving young people more information about bus fares and the best offers in their area. We are discussing what further steps we might take to help young people, and, indeed, I have met colleagues at the Department for Education to discuss this very issue.

Data Protection

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions each Minister in his Department carried classified documents on public transport in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Norman Baker: This information is not recorded. Ministers handle official information in accordance with government guidance.

Driving: Licensing

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the insurance industry's Access to Driver Data project to be completed and fully operational; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Subject to agreement of the detailed design and costs, it is anticipated that motor insurers will have access to the driver data from April 2014.

Driving: Licensing

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to the public purse has been of the insurance industry's Access to Driver Data project; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: At the end of December 2012, the cost to the public purse of developing the project to provide driver data to the insurance industry was £2.16 million. This project will allow insurance companies to calculate motor insurance premiums using accurate driver information.

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card.

Norman Baker: The number of staff in the Department for Transport and its six Executive Agencies is 17,551 of whom 1,233 have use of a Government Procurement Card . No special advisers have use of a Government Procurement Card.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  over what time period he is assessing the proposed link between HS1 and HS2 will provide sufficient capacity; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether Transport for London, Network Rail and HS2 Ltd have assessed whether the proposed link between HS1 and HS2 will provide sufficient capacity for the foreseeable future; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The expected demand for international passengers wishing to travel to/from regional UK cities directly to/from the continent was last assessed in September 2010 for which forecasts were produced for the year 2031. While there remains a strategic case for linking HS2 with HS1 and the channel tunnel, the analysis has shown that even in 2031 the expected international market is relatively small compared to the domestic market. My officials are continuing to work with HS2 Ltd to identify the best approach for providing the link.
	Transport for London, Network Rail and HS2 Ltd have all provided service predictions for this part of the route for the foreseeable future. These forecasts have informed the design of the link along the North London Line. HS2 Ltd continues to work closely with TfL and Network Rail to consider the operational requirements of the link and a number of proposals have been considered.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on newspapers and periodicals in 2011-12.

Norman Baker: The central Department and six of its seven Agencies spent £71,053 in 2011-12 on newspapers, periodicals and trade profession magazines. This compares to an equivalent spend of £267,642 in the 2009-10 financial year. The Driving Standards Agency could only provide the figure at disproportionate cost.

Railways: Standards

Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the level of rail punctuality; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The latest figures available, covering the year to 5 January 2013, provisionally show that 91.3% of trains in England and Wales met the Government's punctuality target of arrival within 5 or 10 minutes for short and long distance services respectively. In the most recent four-week period for which figures are available (9 December 2012 to 5 January 2013), 88.0% of trains met the target.

JUSTICE

Claims Management Services

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans his Department has to publish its response to the consultation on proposals by the Claims Management Regulation Unit to amend the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules to improve the behaviour of claims management companies.

Helen Grant: The response to the consultation will be published as soon as possible once the necessary cross-government and related clearances have been obtained. This includes approval of the implementation stage impact assessment by the Regulatory Policy Committee which is being sought at present.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of employment support allowance appeals heard at the tribunal venue in Hull were successful in each month since June 2010.

Helen Grant: Appeals against decisions made by the Department for Work and Pensions on an individual's entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA) are heard by the First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support, administered by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service.
	The following table shows the proportion of ESA appeals cleared at hearing in the Hull venue which were found in favour of the appellant from June 2010 to June 2012 (the latest period for which statistics have been published).
	
		
			 Outcomes of ESA appeals at Hull venue June 2010 to June 2012 
			 Month Total cases cleared at hearing(1) No. of decisions in favour of appellant % in favour No. of DWP decisions upheld % decision upheld 
			 June 2010 75 31 41 44 59 
			 July 2010 41 11 27 30 73 
			 August 2010 51 16 31 35 69 
			 September 2010 66 20 30 45 68 
			 October 2010 62 14 23 48 77 
			 November 2010 69 12 17 56 81 
			 December 2010 40 17 43 23 58 
			 January 2011 69 25 36 44 64 
			 February 2011 86 29 34 56 65 
			 March 2011 71 20 28 51 72 
			 April 2011 44 13 30 31 70 
			 May 2011 70 22 31 46 66 
			 June 2011 72 26 36 45 63 
			 July 2011 85 40 47 43 51 
			 August 2011 110 36 34 70 66 
			 September 2011 73 27 37 46 63 
			 October 2011 74 30 41 44 59 
			 November 2011 86 29 34 56 65 
			 December 2011 82 28 34 54 66 
			 January 2012 65 25 38 40 62 
			 February 2012 63 29 46 34 54 
			 March 2012 80 34 43 46 58 
			 April 2012 42 15 36 27 64 
			 May 2012 73 22 30 50 68 
			 June 2012 58 19 33 38 66 
			 (1) The total number of cases cleared at hearing includes some withdrawals. Thus, it is not the total of those decisions in favour and those upheld. Note: Data are rounded and drawn from the GAPS2 of administrative system. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system is the best data that is available. Figures may not add to totals because of rounding. Values at 100 and over are rounded to the nearest 10. Values between five and 99 remain untouched.

Human Trafficking

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Congleton of 22 November 2012, Official Report, columns 857-8W, and to the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire of 8 January 2013, Official Report, columns 243-4W, on human trafficking, in which local authority areas and districts the victims identified were found; and for what reason this information was not provided in response to the original questions.

Helen Grant: The safety of identified victims is of the utmost importance and providing this level of information could result in them being rediscovered by their trafficker. It is for this reason that the region in which the victim was encountered was and will continue to be provided rather than the local authority area.

Pre-trial Procedures

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) remanded in custody and (b) remanded on bail in each year from 1997 to 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants who were remanded in custody and the number remanded on bail at all courts in England and Wales, in each year from 1997 to 2011 (latest currently available), is shown the following table.
	Data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
	
		
			 Defendants remanded in custody and defendants remanded on bail at all courts(1) in England and Wales, 1997 to 2011(4)—England and Wales 
			 Defendants (thousand) 
			 Remand status 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008(2) 2009 2010 2011 
			 Remand in custody(3) 86.4 107.0 107.5 99.4 95.4 102.4 100.9 86.6 79.2 74.0 71.6 77.5 71.5 69.4 67.5 
			                 
			 Remand on bail 492.9 488.4 474.8 442.3 455.6 432.7 446.7 471.1 445.0 429.3 425.4 441.2 551.4 552.1 509.3 
			 (1) Includes those defendants remanded in custody or remanded on bail during proceedings at magistrates courts and those defendants remanded in custody or remanded on bail at the commencement of trial or sentence at the Crown court in England and Wales. The magistrates courts component of the data presented in this table excludes those defendants who failed to appear and those who were committed for trial or sentence at the Crown court. The remand status used for the Crown court component of the data is that recorded at the point of committal from the magistrates' court to the Crown court for trial or sentence. (2) Excludes data relating to proceedings at Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008. (3) Including those remanded in custody at any stage of proceedings at magistrates courts or the Crown court who may also have been given bail at some stage of those proceedings. (4) The magistrates courts component of the data presented in this table are estimated. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice

Prison Sentences

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of sentence was for (a) the total prison population and (b) foreign national prisoners in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The average sentence length by nationality for prisoners discharged from determinate sentences on completion of sentence or on licence for the years 2007 to 2011 and January to June 2012 (latest available) is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Average sentence length (in months) of prisoners discharged from determinate sentences on completion of sentence or on licence, by nationality, England and Wales 
			 Nationality 2007 2008 2009(1) 2010(2) 2011 2012(3) 
			 Total 15 15 15 18 18 18 
			 UK national 16 15 15 19 19 19 
			 Foreign national 14 14 12 14 14 14 
			 (1 )The 2009 figures for average sentence length and average time served have been calculated using data for January to June 2009. (2) The 2010 figures for average sentence length have been calculated using data for April to December 2010 due to data quality. (3 )January to June. Data sources and quality:These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Young Offenders

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect that the closure of Ashfield Young Offenders Institution and its replacement with an adult prison will have on young offenders serving sentences in the south of England and the distance they will be located away from their families.

Jeremy Wright: The Youth Justice Board is working with youth offending teams to minimise the movements of young people across the secure estate. Young people serving sentences in the south of England currently placed at Ashfield YOI, whose sentences extend beyond the date when Ashfield is transferred to an adult prison will be included in a planned relocation, taking into account each young person's individual needs. It is expected that the number of young people who this will affect will be less than 30.
	The YJB will ensure that only young people whose are due for release before the transfer will be placed there.
	In the longer term it is expected that some young people are likely to be placed further from home. Youth offending teams have become more accustomed to managing young people placed out of area. Additionally, the assisted prison visits scheme helps meet travel and subsistence costs for young people's families who qualify, and the use of video conferencing helps to reduce the journeys to and from court.

CABINET OFFICE

Appendicitis

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many deaths there have been as a result of appendicitis in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths there have been as a result of appendicitis in each of the last five years. (137535)
	The table provides the number of deaths from appendicitis for England and Wales, for the years 2007 to 2011 (the latest year available).
	The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age, cause, marital status, and place of death are published annually on the National Statistics website at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-27475
	
		
			 Number of deaths from appendicitis in England and Wales, 2007 to 2011(1,2,3) 
			  Number (persons) 
			 Year Deaths 
			 2007 146 
			 2008 138 
			 2009 89 
			 2010 130 
			 2011 127 
			 (1 )Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (2) Figures include deaths of non-residents. (3) Appendicitis was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes K35-K37. Source: Office for National Statistics

Cardiovascular System: Newham

Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) men and (b) women over the age of 65 died of cardiovascular disease in Newham in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009 and (iv) 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested fails within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) men and (b) women over the age of 65 died of cardiovascular disease in Newham in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009 and (iv) 2010. (138161)
	Cardiovascular disease is a broad term that includes diseases of the heart, arteries, veins and lymphatic vessels. Table 1 below provides the number of deaths where coronary heart disease was the underlying cause for males and females in Newham in 2007 to 2010. Coronary heart disease refers to disease of the arteries supplying the heart and includes conditions such as heart attacks and angina. For background information, Table 2 provides the number of deaths where cardiovascular disease, using the broadest possible definition, was the underlying cause for males and females in Newham in 2007 to 2010.
	The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age, cause, marital status and place of death are published annually and are available here:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-27475
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of deaths where coronary heart disease was the underlying cause in men and women aged over 65 years in Newham, 2007-10(1,2,3,4) 
			 Deaths (persons) 
			 Sex 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Male 78 99 80 81 
		
	
	
		
			 Female 94 67 58 71 
			 (1) Coronary heart disease was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes I20-I25. (2) Based on boundaries as of November 2012. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. Source: Office for National Statistics. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of deaths where cardiovascular disease was the underlying cause in men and women aged over 65 years in Newham, 2007-10 (1,2,3,4) 
			 Deaths (persons) 
			 Sex 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Male 156 203 153 158 
			 Female 203 172 157 164 
			 (1) Cardiovascular disease was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes I00-I99. (2) Based on boundaries as of November 2012. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. Source: Office for National Statistics.

Charities: Fraud

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the level of fraud in the charity sector; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The National Fraud Authority estimated that fraud against the charity sector cost £1.1 billion in 2010-11. The Charity Commission provides guidance on steps that charities can take to protect themselves from fraud, and works with the police and other agencies to tackle fraud in the charity sector and bring criminals to justice.

Civil Servants: Recruitment

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people he plans to recruit onto the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2013.

Francis Maude: The deadline for applications to join the Fast Stream in 2013 was 30 November 2012. Selection is now under way, and the final number recruited will be announced in the annual Fast Stream report for 2013, due to be published on line early in 2014 at:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/civil-service-fast-stream-report

Data Protection

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on how many occasions each Minister in the Deputy Prime Minister's Office carried classified documents on public transport in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Francis Maude: This information is not held.

Dover House

Margaret Curran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many staff working in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office he expects to move to Dover House in the forthcoming office move.

Francis Maude: holding answer 15 January 2013
	The Cabinet Office are working with Scotland Office to ensure that the needs of the Deputy Prime Minister's Office are met within the space available in Dover House.

Government Departments: Logos

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what information he holds on the names of Government Departments which are changing their logos to the Royal Coat of Arms.

Nick Hurd: All Departments are changing their logos to use a common design, which includes use of the Royal Coat of Arms.
	However the following Departments that currently use a different and long-standing coat of arms or other heraldic device will incorporate this within the common design: Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Scotland Office, Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, Wales Office, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons and Office of the Leader of the House of Lords.

Government Departments: Trade Union Officials

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  for what reasons evidence from the Tax Payers Alliance and the Trade Union Reform Council was used in the formulation of the proposals to reduce the facility time for trades union officials in the Civil Service;
	(2)  what representations he has received from trades unions on facility time for trade union representatives in the Civil Service; and what evidence from such bodies has been formally submitted during his consultation into this matter.

Francis Maude: During the consultation on the reform of trade union facility time in the civil service, at least seven formal meetings were held with the recognised civil service trade unions, these organisations also submitted written representations to inform the consultation. While the formal consultation was with the trade unions a range of other organisations, including individual civil servants also contributed their views.

Government Procurement Card

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in his Department have use of a Government Procurement Card;
	(2)  how many (a) staff and (b) special advisers in No. 10 Downing Street have a Government Procurement Card.

Francis Maude: holding answer 15 January 2013
	The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	Procurement cards were introduced in 1997 but in the past there was no consistent approach to monitoring them or controlling procurement spend. By clamping down on waste and making procurement smarter, we saved the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds since May 2010. Information on procurement card use is now published for everyone to see and scrutinise.
	Since May 2010 we have also tightened the controls on the use of cards and implemented new cross-Whitehall standards, a taskforce to tackle fraud, and a group that monitors the spend and activity on cards.
	There are currently 268 staff in the Cabinet Office who hold Government Procurement Cards. None of these cardholders are special advisers.
	Expenditure on Government Procurement Card transactions over £500 is published on the Cabinet Office web site on a monthly basis.

Job Creation

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will estimate the number of (a) part-time jobs and (b) jobs on a temporary contract created in (i) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency, (ii) Birmingham and (iii) England since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question.
	ONS compiles Labour Market Statistics following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions for areas smaller than the UK from the Annual Population Survey. (APS).
	Information regarding jobs created is not available. As an alternative we have provided seasonally adjusted estimates of the number of people who were employed part-time or employed in jobs that were not permanent according to survey responses during the 12 month periods ending June 2010, the survey period closest to May 2010, and June 2012, along with the net change between these two periods. This net change provides a reasonable approximation of the number of jobs created since May 2010.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of people employed part-time(1) 
			 Thousand 
			  Level  
			 12 months ending June 2010 June 2012 Change between 12 month periods ending June 2010 and June 2012 
			 Birmingham, Hall Green 14 10 -4 
			 Birmingham 106 97 -8 
			 England 6,464 6,605 140 
			 (1) Part-time in main job. Note: All estimates are independently rounded. Source: Annual Population Survey 
		
	
	
		
			 Table (2): Number of people employed in temporary(1) jobs 
			 Thousand 
			  Level  
			 12 months ending June 2010 June 2012 Change between 12 month periods ending June 2010 and June 2012 
			 Birmingham, Hall Green 2 4 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Birmingham 22 23 2 
			 England 1,219 1,301 82 
			 (1) Temporary is defined as “not permanent in some way”—reasons included are: Working for employment agency; Casual type of work; Seasonal work; Under contract for fixed term or fixed task; Other reason. Note: All estimates are independently rounded. Source: Annual Population Survey

Meetings

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Xerox in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(2)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Oracle in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(3)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Dell CSC in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(4)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Symantec in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Francis Maude: As part of my Department's transparency programme, details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/ministers-transparency-publications
	A central record of officials' meetings is not held.

New Businesses: East of England

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new businesses have been established in (a) Witham constituency, (b) Essex and (c) the east of England in each month since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many new businesses have been established in (a) Witham constituency, (b) Essex and (c)the East of England in each month since May 2010.
	Data on new businesses are not available on a monthly basis, however, annual statistics on the number of new businesses (we refer to these as enterprise births) are available in the ONS release on Business Demography at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/business-demography/2011/stb-business-demography-2011.html#tab-Business-births-and-deaths-by-UK-region

Public Appointments

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many appointments made to the boards of public bodies overseen by his Department have been (a) male and (b) female since May 2010.

Francis Maude: Since May 2010, 30% of appointments to the boards of public bodies overseen by the Cabinet Office have been women. 47 men and 20 women have been appointed. In 2009 26% of members of the Department's public bodies were female as published in the Cabinet Office Public Bodies 2009 report:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-public-bodies-2009
	The Cabinet Office will continue to focus on increasing the number of women appointed to its public body boards as we strive to meet the target of 50% female board appointments by 2015.

Public Appointments

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  which recruitment consultants his Department used to select candidates for public appointments within his departmental remit in each year for which figures are available since 2007; and how much was paid in fees to each such company in each year since 2007;
	(2)  how many public appointments (a) regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments and (b) not regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments have been made by his Department since 2007; and in how many such cases the services of recruitment consultants were retained;
	(3)  when his Department last assessed (a) the utility and (b) the value of psychometric testing in its recruitment and selection of candidates for public appointments on advisory boards;
	(4)  what his Department's policy is on the payment of travel expenses to candidates in respect of their attendance at assessment centres and interviews when pursuing applications for selection to a public appointment.

Francis Maude: Comprehensive information on the use of recruitment consultants for all public appointments since 2007 are not held, but consultants used by the Cabinet Office to support public appointments campaigns include Saxton Bampfylde at total cost under £100,000 (for appointments made in 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2011-12), Rockpools at £13,800 (in 2011-12), Gattenby Sanderson at £17,786 (in 2011-12) and Russell Reynolds in 2007-08 and 2008-09 (total cost figures for these campaigns are not held).
	Since 2007, Cabinet Office-sponsored public bodies have made 60 appointments regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments and 55 not regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The services of recruitment consultants have been used to select candidates for over 10 public appointments made to the Cabinet Office's public bodies' boards.
	The Cabinet Office keeps the use of psychometric testing, as part of the recruitment and selection of candidates for public appointments on advisory boards, under review. The Cabinet Office will consider payment of reasonable travel expenses to candidates for attendance at assessment centres and interviews for public appointments.

Taxis

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how much his Department spent on taxis in 2011-12;
	(2)  how much No. 10 Downing Street spent on taxis in 2011-12.

Francis Maude: holding answer 15 January 2013
	The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	As was the case under previous Administrations, the use of taxis in the Cabinet Office is only permitted in line with strict departmental guidance.
	Records are not held centrally of all taxi use by my Department.

Waste and Resources Action Programme

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the outcome was of his Department's meeting with WRAP on 11 October 2012 to discuss action his Department needs to take to implement the waste hierarchy.

Francis Maude: holding answer 15 January 2013
	At the Cabinet Office's meeting with WRAP on 11 October 2012 it was agreed that the Department was complying with the waste hierarchy. Following the meeting, the Department's relevant contractors formally signed up to the WRAP Hospitality and Food Service Agreement.

Work Experience: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18-year-olds in Scotland who currently have no work experience or experience of part time work.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the number of (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18 year olds in Scotland who currently have no work experience or experience of part-time work. (137596)
	Estimates of employment are provided by the Labour Force Survey (LFS). For the period July to September 2012 it is estimated that there were 28,000 16 year olds; 29,000 17 year olds and 10,000 18 year olds who had never had a paid job of any kind or a place on a government supported training or employment programme. It is not possible to measure those who have received work experience as part of their formal education.
	The estimates expressed as a percentage of the population in each case are: 55% for 16 year olds; 43% for 17 year olds and 22% for 18 year olds.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Candidates: Disability

Luciana Berger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many candidates stood for election to Parliament in each of the last four general elections; and how many such candidates identified themselves as having a disability.

Chloe Smith: The number of candidates that stood for election to Parliament in each of the last four general elections is as follows:
	1997: 3,724;
	2001: 3,319;
	2005: 3,554;
	2010: 4,150.
	The Government is not aware that data have been collated on how many such candidates identified themselves as having a disability at these elections though the numbers are believed to be low.
	The £2.6 million Access to Elected Office Fund, and wider Access to Elected Office Strategy, was launched in July 2012. It delivers the coalition agreement commitment to “provide extra support to tackle the particular obstacles faced by disabled people who want to become MPs, councillors or other elected officials”.

Polling Stations: Disability

Luciana Berger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps the Government is taking to ensure that disabled people can access polling stations.

Chloe Smith: Local authorities are responsible for designating polling places and the law requires them to make sure that, as far as is practicable, these are accessible to the local community including electors who are disabled. Local authorities are also required to carry out regular reviews to ensure that existing polling places are checked for continued accessibility, that any reasonable improvements can be made, and that any new suitable locations can be designated as polling places. Electoral administrators will seek to adapt designated buildings where necessary so that they are accessible, for example by installing a temporary ramp.
	The Government is committed to ensuring that the electoral process is accessible to all electors, and we continue to consider how the voting experience might be improved.

Trident

Wayne David: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he intends to publish the Government's Trident Review.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply 
	as the Minister responsible for the Trident Alternatives Review.
	The review will report to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the first half of this year. An unclassified version of the report will be published shortly afterwards.